I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7890 

To amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to strengthen 

protections relating to the online collection, use, and disclosure of personal information of children and teens, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2024 

Mr. WALBERG (for himself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. BUCSHON, Ms. 

ESHOO, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. DUNN of Florida, 

and Mr. AUCHINCLOSS) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 

1998 to strengthen protections relating to the online 

collection, use, and disclosure of personal information 

of children and teens, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Online collection, use, disclosure, and deletion of personal information 

of children and teens. 

Sec. 3. Study and reports of mobile and online application oversight and enforcement. 

Sec. 4. Severability. 

1 SEC. 2. ONLINE COLLECTION, USE, DISCLOSURE, AND DE2 LETION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF 

3 CHILDREN AND TEENS. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1302 of the Children’s 

5 Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol8 lows: 

9 ‘‘(2) OPERATOR.—The term ‘operator’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means any person— 

11 ‘‘(i) who, for commercial purposes, in 

12 interstate or foreign commerce operates or 

13 provides a website on the internet, an on14 line service, an online application, or a mo15 bile application; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) who— 

17 ‘‘(I) collects or maintains, either 

18 directly or through a service provider, 

19 personal information from or about 

20 the users of that website, service, or 

21 application; 


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1 ‘‘(II) allows another person to 

2 collect personal information directly 

3 from users of that website, service, or 

4 application (in which case, the oper5 ator is deemed to have collected the 

6 information); or 

7 ‘‘(III) allows users of that 

8 website, service, or application to pub9 licly disclose personal information (in 

10 which case, the operator is deemed to 

11 have collected the information); and 

12 ‘‘(B) does not include any nonprofit entity 

13 that would otherwise be exempt from coverage 

14 under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commis15 sion Act (15 U.S.C. 45).’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

17 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) the release of personal information 

20 collected from a child or teen by an operator for 

21 any purpose, except where the personal infor22 mation is provided to a person other than an 

23 operator who— 

24 ‘‘(i) provides support for the internal 

25 operations of the website, online service, 


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1 online application, or mobile application of 

2 the operator, excluding any activity relat3 ing to individual-specific advertising to 

4 children or teens; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) does not disclose or use that per6 sonal information for any other purpose; 

7 and’’; and 

8 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

9 (i) by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ after 

10 ‘‘child’’ each place the term appears; 

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘website or online 

12 service’’ and inserting ‘‘website, online 

13 service, online application, or mobile appli14 cation’’; and 

15 (iii) by striking ‘‘actual knowledge’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘actual knowledge or knowl17 edge fairly implied on the basis of objective 

18 circumstances’’; 

19 (3) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(8) PERSONAL INFORMATION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘personal in23 formation’ means individually identifiable infor24 mation about an individual collected online, in25 cluding— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a first and last name; 

2 ‘‘(ii) a home or other physical address 

3 including street name and name of a city 

4 or town; 

5 ‘‘(iii) an e-mail address; 

6 ‘‘(iv) a telephone number; 

7 ‘‘(v) a Social Security number; 

8 ‘‘(vi) any other identifier that the 

9 Commission determines permits the phys10 ical or online contacting of a specific indi11 vidual; 

12 ‘‘(vii) a persistent identifier that can 

13 be used to recognize a specific child or teen 

14 over time and across different websites, on15 line services, online applications, or mobile 

16 applications, including but not limited to a 

17 customer number held in a cookie, an 

18 Internet Protocol (IP) address, a processor 

19 or device serial number, or unique device 

20 identifier, but excluding an identifier that 

21 is used by an operator solely for providing 

22 support for the internal operations of the 

23 website, online service, online application, 

24 or mobile application; 


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1 ‘‘(viii) a photograph, video, or audio 

2 file where such file contains a specific 

3 child’s or teen’s image or voice; 

4 ‘‘(ix) geolocation information; 

5 ‘‘(x) information generated from the 

6 measurement or technological processing of 

7 an individual’s biological, physical, or phys8 iological characteristics that is used to 

9 identify an individual, including— 

10 ‘‘(I) fingerprints; 

11 ‘‘(II) voice prints; 

12 ‘‘(III) iris or retina imagery 

13 scans; 

14 ‘‘(IV) facial templates; 

15 ‘‘(V) deoxyribonucleic acid 

16 (DNA) information; or 

17 ‘‘(VI) gait; or 

18 ‘‘(xi) information linked or reasonably 

19 linkable to a child or teen or the parents 

20 of that child or teen (including any unique 

21 identifier) that an operator collects online 

22 from the child or teen and combines with 

23 an identifier described in this subpara24 graph. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘personal in2 formation’ shall not include an audio file that 

3 contains a child’s or teen’s voice so long as the 

4 operator— 

5 ‘‘(i) does not request information via 

6 voice that would otherwise be considered 

7 personal information under this paragraph; 

8 ‘‘(ii) provides clear notice of its collec9 tion and use of the audio file and its dele10 tion policy in its privacy policy; 

11 ‘‘(iii) only uses the voice within the 

12 audio file solely as a replacement for writ13 ten words, to perform a task, or engage 

14 with a website, online service, online appli15 cation, or mobile application, such as to 

16 perform a search or fulfill a verbal instruc17 tion or request; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) only maintains the audio file 

19 long enough to complete the stated purpose 

20 and then immediately deletes the audio file 

21 and does not make any other use of the 

22 audio file prior to deletion. 

23 ‘‘(C) SUPPORT FOR THE INTERNAL OPER24 ATIONS OF A WEBSITE, ONLINE SERVICE, ON25 LINE APPLICATION, OR MOBILE APPLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

2 subparagraph (A)(vii), the term ‘support 

3 for the internal operations of a website, on4 line service, online application, or mobile 

5 application’ means those activities nec6 essary to— 

7 ‘‘(I) maintain or analyze the 

8 functioning of the website, online serv9 ice, online application, or mobile appli10 cation; 

11 ‘‘(II) perform network commu12 nications; 

13 ‘‘(III) authenticate users of, or 

14 personalize the content on, the 

15 website, online service, online applica16 tion, or mobile application; 

17 ‘‘(IV) cap the frequency of adver18 tising; 

19 ‘‘(V) protect the security or in20 tegrity of the user, website, online 

21 service, online application, or mobile 

22 application; 

23 ‘‘(VI) ensure legal or regulatory 

24 compliance, or 


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1 ‘‘(VII) fulfill a request of a child 

2 or teen as permitted by subpara3 graphs (A) through (C) of section 

4 1303(b)(2). 

5 ‘‘(ii) CONDITION.—Except as specifi6 cally permitted under clause (i), informa7 tion collected for the activities listed in 

8 clause (i) cannot be used or disclosed to 

9 contact a specific individual, including 

10 through individual-specific advertising to 

11 children or teens, to amass a profile on a 

12 specific individual, in connection with proc13 esses that encourage or prompt use of a 

14 website or online service, or for any other 

15 purpose.’’; 

16 (4) by amending paragraph (9) to read as fol17 lows: 

18 ‘‘(9) VERIFIABLE CONSENT.—The term 

19 ‘verifiable consent’ means any reasonable effort (tak20 ing into consideration available technology), includ21 ing a request for authorization for future collection, 

22 use, and disclosure described in the notice, to ensure 

23 that, in the case of a child, a parent of the child, 

24 or, in the case of a teen, the teen— 


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1 ‘‘(A) receives direct notice of the personal 

2 information collection, use, and disclosure prac3 tices of the operator; and 

4 ‘‘(B) before the personal information of the 

5 child or teen is collected, freely and unambig6 uously authorizes— 

7 ‘‘(i) the collection, use, and disclosure, 

8 as applicable, of that personal information; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) any subsequent use of that per11 sonal information.’’; 

12 (5) in paragraph (10)— 

13 (A) in the paragraph header, by striking 

14 ‘‘WEBSITE OR ONLINE SERVICE DIRECTED TO

15 CHILDREN’’ and inserting ‘‘WEBSITE, ONLINE

16 SERVICE, ONLINE APPLICATION, OR MOBILE AP17 PLICATION DIRECTED TO CHILDREN’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘website or online service’’ 

19 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘website, 

20 online service, online application, or mobile ap21 plication’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

23 subparagraph: 

24 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—In con25 sidering whether a website, online service, onVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Apr 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7890.IH H7890

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1 line application, or mobile application, or por2 tion thereof, is directed to children, the Com3 mission shall apply a totality of circumstances 

4 test and will also consider competent and reli5 able empirical evidence regarding audience com6 position and evidence regarding the intended 

7 audience of the website, online service, online 

8 application, or mobile application.’’; and 

9 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(13) CONNECTED DEVICE.—The term ‘con11 nected device’ means a device that is capable of con12 necting to the internet, directly or indirectly, or to 

13 another connected device. 

14 ‘‘(14) ONLINE APPLICATION.—The term ‘online 

15 application’— 

16 ‘‘(A) means an internet-connected software 

17 program; and 

18 ‘‘(B) includes a service or application of19 fered via a connected device. 

20 ‘‘(15) MOBILE APPLICATION.—The term ‘mo21 bile application’— 

22 ‘‘(A) means a software program that runs 

23 on the operating system of— 

24 ‘‘(i) a cellular telephone; 

25 ‘‘(ii) a tablet computer; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a similar portable computing de2 vice that transmits data over a wireless 

3 connection; and 

4 ‘‘(B) includes a service or application of5 fered via a connected device. 

6 ‘‘(16) GEOLOCATION INFORMATION.—The term 

7 ‘geolocation information’ means information suffi8 cient to identify a street name and name of a city 

9 or town. 

10 ‘‘(17) TEEN.—The term ‘teen’ means an indi11 vidual over the age of 12 and under the age of 17. 

12 ‘‘(18) INDIVIDUAL-SPECIFIC ADVERTISING TO

13 CHILDREN OR TEENS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘individual15 specific advertising to children or teens’ means 

16 advertising or any other effort to market a 

17 product or service that is directed to a specific 

18 child or teen or a connected device that is 

19 linked or reasonably linkable to a child or teen 

20 based on— 

21 ‘‘(i) the personal information from— 

22 ‘‘(I) the child or teen; or 

23 ‘‘(II) a group of children or teens 

24 who are similar in sex, age, household 

25 income level, race, or ethnicity to the 


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1 specific child or teen to whom the 

2 product or service is marketed; 

3 ‘‘(ii) profiling of a child or teen or 

4 group of children or teens; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) a unique identifier of the con6 nected device. 

7 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘individual8 specific advertising to children or teens’ shall 

9 not include— 

10 ‘‘(i) advertising or marketing to an in11 dividual or the device of an individual in 

12 response to the individual’s specific request 

13 for information or feedback, such as a 

14 child’s or teen’s current search query; 

15 ‘‘(ii) contextual advertising, such as 

16 when an advertisement is displayed based 

17 on the content of the website, online serv18 ice, online application, mobile application, 

19 or connected device in which the advertise20 ment appears and does not vary based on 

21 personal information related to the viewer; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(iii) processing personal information 

24 solely for measuring or reporting adver25 tising or content performance, reach, or 


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1 frequency, including independent measure2 ment. 

3 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

4 in subparagraph (A) shall be construed to pro5 hibit an operator with actual knowledge or 

6 knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objec7 tive circumstances that a user is under the age 

8 of 17 from delivering advertising or marketing 

9 that is age-appropriate and intended for a child 

10 or teen audience, so long as the operator does 

11 not use any personal information other than 

12 whether the user is under the age of 17.’’. 

13 (b) ONLINE COLLECTION, USE, DISCLOSURE, AND

14 DELETION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF CHILDREN

15 AND TEENS.—Section 1303 of the Children’s Online Pri16 vacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6502) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) by striking the heading and inserting the 

19 following: ‘‘ONLINE COLLECTION, USE, DISCLO20 SURE, AND DELETION OF PERSONAL INFORMA21 TION OF CHILDREN AND TEENS.’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (a)— 

23 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

24 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for an oper2 ator of a website, online service, online application, 

3 or mobile application directed to children or for any 

4 operator of a website, online service, online applica5 tion, or mobile application with actual knowledge or 

6 knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective cir7 cumstances that a user is a child or teen— 

8 ‘‘(A) to collect personal information from a 

9 child or teen in a manner that violates the regu10 lations prescribed under subsection (b); 

11 ‘‘(B) except as provided in subparagraphs 

12 (B) and (C) of section 1302(18), to collect, use, 

13 disclose to third parties, or maintain personal 

14 information of a child or teen for purposes of 

15 individual-specific advertising to children or 

16 teens (or to allow another person to collect, use, 

17 disclose, or maintain such information for such 

18 purpose); 

19 ‘‘(C) to collect the personal information of 

20 a child or teen except when the collection of the 

21 personal information is— 

22 ‘‘(i) consistent with the context of a 

23 particular transaction or service or the re24 lationship of the child or teen with the op25 erator, including collection necessary to 


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1 fulfill a transaction or provide a product or 

2 service requested by the child or teen; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) required or specifically author4 ized by Federal or State law; or 

5 ‘‘(D) to store or transfer the personal in6 formation of a child or teen outside of the 

7 United States unless the operator provides di8 rect notice to the parent of the child, in the 

9 case of a child, or to the teen, in the case of 

10 a teen, that the child’s or teen’s personal infor11 mation is being stored or transferred outside of 

12 the United States; or 

13 ‘‘(E) to retain the personal information of 

14 a child or teen for longer than is reasonably 

15 necessary to fulfill a transaction or provide a 

16 service requested by the child or teen except as 

17 required or specifically authorized by Federal or 

18 State law.’’; and 

19 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (i) in the header, by striking ‘‘PAR21 ENT’’ and inserting ‘‘ ‘PARENT OR TEEN’ ’’ 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding 

23 paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘Notwith24 standing paragraph (1)(A)’’; 


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1 (iii) by striking ‘‘of such a website or 

2 online service’’; and 

3 (iv) by striking ‘‘subsection 

4 (b)(1)(B)(iii) to the parent of a child’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(1)(B)(iv) to the 

6 parent of a child or under subsection 

7 (b)(1)(C)(iv) to a teen’’; 

8 (3) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

11 (I) by striking ‘‘operator of any 

12 website’’ and all that follows through 

13 ‘‘from a child’’ and inserting ‘‘oper14 ator of a website, online service, on15 line application, or mobile application 

16 directed to children or that has actual 

17 knowledge or knowledge fairly implied 

18 on the basis of objective circumstances 

19 that a user is a child or teen’’; 

20 (II) in clause (i)— 

21 (aa) by striking ‘‘notice on 

22 the website’’ and inserting ‘‘clear 

23 and conspicuous notice on the 

24 website’’; 


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1 (bb) by inserting ‘‘or teens’’ 

2 after ‘‘children’’; 

3 (cc) by striking ‘‘, and the 

4 operator’s’’ and inserting ‘‘, the 

5 operator’s’’; and 

6 (dd) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘, the rights and oppor8 tunities available to the parent of 

9 the child or teen under subpara10 graphs (B) and (C), and the pro11 cedures or mechanisms the oper12 ator uses to ensure that personal 

13 information is not collected from 

14 children or teens except in ac15 cordance with the regulations 

16 promulgated under this para17 graph;’’; 

18 (III) in clause (ii)— 

19 (aa) by striking ‘‘parental’’; 

20 (bb) by inserting ‘‘or teens’’ 

21 after ‘‘children’’; 

22 (cc) by striking the semi23 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

24 and’’; and 


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1 (IV) by inserting after clause (ii) 

2 the following new clause: 

3 ‘‘(iii) to obtain verifiable consent from 

4 a parent of a child or from a teen before 

5 using or disclosing personal information of 

6 the child or teen for any purpose that is a 

7 material change from the original purposes 

8 and disclosure practices specified to the 

9 parent of the child or the teen under 

10 clause (i);’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

12 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

13 (i), by striking ‘‘website or online 

14 service’’ and inserting ‘‘operator’’; 

15 (II) in clause (i), by inserting 

16 ‘‘and the method by which the oper17 ator obtained the personal informa18 tion, and the purposes for which the 

19 operator collects, uses, discloses, and 

20 retains the personal information’’ be21 fore the semicolon; 

22 (III) in clause (ii)— 

23 (aa) by inserting ‘‘to delete 

24 personal information collected 

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1 formation submitted by the child 

2 to a website, online service, on3 line application, or mobile appli4 cation and’’ after ‘‘the oppor5 tunity at any time’’; and 

6 (bb) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

7 inserting a semicolon; 

8 (IV) by redesignating clause (iii) 

9 as clause (iv) and inserting after 

10 clause (ii) the following new clause: 

11 ‘‘(iii) the opportunity to challenge the 

12 accuracy of the personal information and, 

13 if the parent of the child establishes the in14 accuracy of the personal information, to 

15 have the inaccurate personal information 

16 corrected;’’; and 

17 (V) in clause (iv), as so redesig18 nated, by inserting ‘‘, if such informa19 tion is available to the operator at the 

20 time the parent makes the request’’ 

21 before the semicolon; 

22 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

23 (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and 

24 (E), respectively; 


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1 (iv) by inserting after subparagraph 

2 (B) the following new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(C) require the operator to provide, upon 

4 the request of a teen under this subparagraph 

5 who has provided personal information to the 

6 operator, upon proper identification of that 

7 teen— 

8 ‘‘(i) a description of the specific types 

9 of personal information collected from the 

10 teen by the operator, the method by which 

11 the operator obtained the personal infor12 mation, and the purposes for which the op13 erator collects, uses, discloses, and retains 

14 the personal information; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the opportunity at any time to 

16 delete personal information collected from 

17 the teen or content or information sub18 mitted by the teen to a website, online 

19 service, online application, or mobile appli20 cation and to refuse to permit the opera21 tor’s further use or maintenance in retriev22 able form, or online collection, of personal 

23 information from the teen; 

24 ‘‘(iii) the opportunity to challenge the 

25 accuracy of the personal information and, 


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1 if the teen establishes the inaccuracy of the 

2 personal information, to have the inac3 curate personal information corrected; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) a means that is reasonable 

5 under the circumstances for the teen to ob6 tain any personal information collected 

7 from the teen, if such information is avail8 able to the operator at the time the teen 

9 makes the request;’’; 

10 (v) in subparagraph (D), as so redes11 ignated— 

12 (I) by striking ‘‘a child’s’’ and in13 serting ‘‘a child’s or teen’s’’; and 

14 (II) by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ after 

15 ‘‘the child’’; and 

16 (vi) by amending subparagraph (E), 

17 as so redesignated, to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(E) require the operator to establish, im19 plement, and maintain reasonable security prac20 tices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, 

21 and accessibility of personal information of chil22 dren or teens collected by the operator, and to 

23 protect such personal information against unau24 thorized access.’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) in the matter preceding subpara2 graph (A), by striking ‘‘verifiable parental 

3 consent’’ and inserting ‘‘verifiable con4 sent’’; 

5 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 

6 (I) by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ after 

7 ‘‘collected from a child’’; 

8 (II) by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ after 

9 ‘‘request from the child’’; and 

10 (III) by inserting ‘‘or teen or to 

11 contact another child or teen’’ after 

12 ‘‘to recontact the child’’; 

13 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘parent or child’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘parent or teen’’; and 

16 (II) by striking ‘‘parental con17 sent’’ each place the term appears and 

18 inserting ‘‘verifiable consent’’; 

19 (iv) in subparagraph (C)— 

20 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

21 (i), by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ after 

22 ‘‘child’’ each place the term appears; 

23 (II) in clause (i)— 


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1 (aa) by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ 

2 after ‘‘child’’ each place the term 

3 appears; and 

4 (bb) by inserting ‘‘or teen, 

5 as applicable,’’ after ‘‘parent’’ 

6 each place the term appears; and 

7 (III) in clause (ii)— 

8 (aa) by striking ‘‘without 

9 notice to the parent’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘without notice to the parent 

11 or teen, as applicable,’’; and 

12 (bb) by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ 

13 after ‘‘child’’ each place the term 

14 appears; and 

15 (v) in subparagraph (D)— 

16 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

17 (i), by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ after 

18 ‘‘child’’ each place the term appears; 

19 (II) in clause (ii), by inserting 

20 ‘‘or teen’’ after ‘‘child’’; and 

21 (III) in the flush text following 

22 clause (iii)— 

23 (aa) by inserting ‘‘or teen, 

24 as applicable,’’ after ‘‘parent’’ 

25 each place the term appears; and 


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1 (bb) by inserting ‘‘or teen’’ 

2 after ‘‘child’’; 

3 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

4 paragraph (4) and inserting after paragraph 

5 (2) the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO OPERATORS ACTING

7 UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

8 OR INSTITUTIONS.—The regulations may provide 

9 that verifiable consent under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) is 

10 not required for an operator that is acting under a 

11 written agreement with an educational agency or in12 stitution (as defined in section 444 of the General 

13 Education Provisions Act (commonly known as the 

14 ‘Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 

15 1974’)) (20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(3)) that, at a min16 imum, requires the— 

17 ‘‘(A) operator to— 

18 ‘‘(i) limit its collection, use, and dis19 closure of the personal information from a 

20 child or teen to solely educational purposes 

21 and for no other commercial purposes; 

22 ‘‘(ii) provide the educational agency or 

23 institution with a notice of the specific 

24 types of personal information the operator 

25 will collect from the child or teen, the 


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1 method by which the operator will obtain 

2 the personal information, and the purposes 

3 for which the operator will collect, use, dis4 close, and retain the personal information; 

5 ‘‘(iii) provide the educational agency 

6 or institution with a link to the operator’s 

7 online notice of information practices as 

8 required under subsection (b)(1)(A)(i); and 

9 ‘‘(iv) provide the educational agency 

10 or institution, upon request, with a means 

11 to review the personal information collected 

12 from a child or teen, to prevent further use 

13 or maintenance or future collection of per14 sonal information from a child or teen, and 

15 to delete personal information collected 

16 from a child or teen or content or informa17 tion submitted by a child or teen to the op18 erator’s website, online service, online ap19 plication, or mobile application; 

20 ‘‘(B) representative of the educational 

21 agency or institution to acknowledge and agree 

22 that they have authority to authorize the collec23 tion, use, and disclosure of personal information 

24 from children or teens on behalf of the edu25 cational agency or institution, along with such 


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1 authorization, their name, and title at the edu2 cational agency or institution; and 

3 ‘‘(C) educational agency or institution to— 

4 ‘‘(i) provide on its website a notice 

5 that identifies the operator with which it 

6 has entered into a written agreement 

7 under this subsection and provides a link 

8 to the operator’s online notice of informa9 tion practices as required under paragraph 

10 (1)(A)(i); 

11 ‘‘(ii) provide the operator’s notice re12 garding its information practices, as re13 quired under subparagraph (A)(ii), upon 

14 request, to a parent, in the case of a child, 

15 or a parent or teen, in the case of a teen; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iii) upon the request of a parent, in 

18 the case of a child, or a parent or teen, in 

19 the case of a teen, request the operator 

20 provide a means to review the personal in21 formation from the child or teen and pro22 vide the parent, in the case of a child, or 

23 parent or teen, in the case of the teen, a 

24 means to review the personal informa25 tion.’’; 


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1 (D) by amending paragraph (4), as so re2 designated, to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION OF SERVICE.—The regula4 tions shall permit the operator of a website, online 

5 service, online application, or mobile application to 

6 terminate service provided to a child whose parent 

7 has refused, or a teen who has refused, under the 

8 regulations prescribed under paragraphs (1)(B)(ii) 

9 and (1)(C)(ii), to permit the operator’s further use 

10 or maintenance in retrievable form, or future online 

11 collection of, personal information from that child or 

12 teen.’’; and 

13 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraphs: 

15 ‘‘(5) CONTINUATION OF SERVICE.—The regula16 tions shall prohibit an operator from discontinuing 

17 service provided to a child or teen on the basis of 

18 a request by the parent of the child or by the teen, 

19 under the regulations prescribed under subpara20 graph (B) or (C) of paragraph (1), respectively, to 

21 delete personal information collected from the child 

22 or teen, to the extent that the operator is capable of 

23 providing such service without such information. 

24 ‘‘(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A request 

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1 graph (1) to delete or correct personal information 

2 of a child or teen shall not be construed— 

3 ‘‘(A) to limit the authority of a law en4 forcement agency to obtain any content or in5 formation from an operator pursuant to a law6 fully executed warrant or an order of a court of 

7 competent jurisdiction; 

8 ‘‘(B) to require an operator or third party 

9 delete or correct information that— 

10 ‘‘(i) any other provision of Federal or 

11 State law requires the operator or third 

12 party to maintain; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) was submitted to the website, on14 line service, online application, or mobile 

15 application of the operator by any person 

16 other than the user who is attempting to 

17 erase or otherwise eliminate the content or 

18 information, including content or informa19 tion submitted by the user that was repub20 lished or resubmitted by another person; or 

21 ‘‘(C) to prohibit an operator from— 

22 ‘‘(i) retaining a record of the deletion 

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1 ance with a request made pursuant to sub2 paragraph (B) or (C); 

3 ‘‘(ii) preventing, detecting, protecting 

4 against, or responding to security inci5 dents, identity theft, or fraud, or reporting 

6 those responsible for such actions; 

7 ‘‘(iii) protecting the integrity or secu8 rity of a website, online service, online ap9 plication or mobile application; or 

10 ‘‘(iv) ensuring that the child’s or 

11 teen’s information remains deleted. 

12 ‘‘(7) COMMON VERIFIABLE CONSENT MECHA13 NISM.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(i) FEASIBILITY OF MECHANISM.— 

16 The Commission shall assess the feasi17 bility, with notice and public comment, of 

18 allowing operators the option to use a com19 mon verifiable consent mechanism that 

20 fully meets the requirements of this title. 

21 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The feasibility 

22 assessment described in clause (i) shall 

23 consider whether a single operator could 

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1 quired under this title, from a parent of a 

2 child or from a teen on behalf of multiple, 

3 listed operators that provide a joint or re4 lated service. 

5 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 

7 the Commission shall submit a report to the 

8 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans9 portation of the Senate and the Committee on 

10 Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep11 resentatives with the findings of the assessment 

12 required by subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(C) REGULATIONS.—If the Commission 

14 finds that the use of a common verifiable con15 sent mechanism is feasible and would meet the 

16 requirements of this title, the Commission shall 

17 issue regulations to permit the use of a common 

18 verifiable consent mechanism in accordance 

19 with the findings outlined in such report.’’; 

20 (4) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘a regulation 

21 prescribed under subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub22 paragraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of subsection (a)(1), 

23 or of a regulation prescribed under subsection (b),’’; 

24 and 


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1 (5) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(d) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—The provisions 

4 of this title shall preempt any State law, rule, or regula5 tion only to the extent that such State law, rule, or regula6 tion conflicts with a provision of this title. Nothing in this 

7 title shall be construed to prohibit any State from enacting 

8 a law, rule, or regulation that provides greater protection 

9 to children or teens than the provisions of this title.’’. 

10 (c) SAFE HARBORS.—Section 1304 of the Children’s 

11 Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6503) 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘and 

14 teens’’ after ‘‘children’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(d) PUBLICATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the restrictions 

18 described in paragraph (2), the Commission shall 

19 publish on the internet website of the Commission 

20 any report or documentation required by regulation 

21 to be submitted to the Commission to carry out this 

22 section. 

23 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLICATION.—The re24 strictions described in section 6(f) and section 21 of 

25 the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 


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1 46(f), 57b–2) applicable to the disclosure of infor2 mation obtained by the Commission shall apply in 

3 same manner to the disclosure under this subsection 

4 of information obtained by the Commission from a 

5 report or documentation described in paragraph 

6 (1).’’. 

7 (d) ACTIONS BY STATES.—Section 1305 of the Chil8 dren’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 

9 6504) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

12 (A), by inserting ‘‘section 1303(a)(1) or’’ before 

13 ‘‘any regulation’’; and 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

15 ‘‘section 1303(a)(1) or’’ before ‘‘the regula16 tion’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (d)— 

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘section 1303(a)(1) or’’ 

19 before ‘‘any regulation’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘section 1303(a)(1) or’’ 

21 before ‘‘that regulation’’. 

22 (e) ADMINISTRATION AND APPLICABILITY OF ACT.— 

23 Section 1306 of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection 

24 Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6505) is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (d)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘section 1303(a)(1) or’’ 

2 before ‘‘a rule’’; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘such rule’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘section 1303(a)(1) or a rule of the Commis5 sion under section 1303’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub7 sections: 

8 ‘‘(f) DETERMINATION OF WHETHER AN OPERATOR

9 HAS KNOWLEDGE FAIRLY IMPLIED ON THE BASIS OF

10 OBJECTIVE CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes 

12 of enforcing this title or a regulation promulgated 

13 under this title, in making a determination as to 

14 whether an operator has knowledge fairly implied on 

15 the basis of objective circumstances that a specific 

16 user is a child or teen, the Commission or State at17 torneys general shall rely on competent and reliable 

18 evidence, taking into account the totality of the cir19 cumstances, including whether a reasonable and pru20 dent person under the circumstances would have 

21 known that the user is a child or teen. Nothing in 

22 this title, including a determination described in the 

23 preceding sentence, shall be construed to require an 

24 operator to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) affirmatively collect any personal in2 formation with respect to the age of a child or 

3 teen that an operator is not already collecting 

4 in the normal course of business; or 

5 ‘‘(B) implement an age gating or age 

6 verification functionality. 

7 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION GUIDANCE.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days of 

9 enactment, the Commission shall issue guidance 

10 to provide information, including best practices 

11 and examples for operators to understand the 

12 Commission’s determination of whether an op13 erator has knowledge fairly implied on the basis 

14 of objective circumstances that a user is a child 

15 or teen. 

16 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—No guidance issued by 

17 the Commission with respect to this title shall 

18 confer any rights on any person, State, or local19 ity, nor shall operate to bind the Commission or 

20 any person to the approach recommended in 

21 such guidance. In any enforcement action 

22 brought pursuant to this title, the Commission 

23 or State attorney general, as applicable, shall 

24 allege a specific violation of a provision of this 

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1 eral, as applicable, may not base an enforce2 ment action on, or execute a consent order 

3 based on, practices that are alleged to be incon4 sistent with any such guidance, unless the prac5 tices allegedly violate this title. 

6 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Any regulations 

7 issued under this title shall include a description and anal8 ysis of the impact of proposed and final Rules on small 

9 entities per the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 

10 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).’’. 

11 SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORTS OF MOBILE AND ONLINE AP12 PLICATION OVERSIGHT AND ENFORCEMENT. 

13 (a) OVERSIGHT REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade 

15 Commission shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com17 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep18 resentatives a report on the processes of platforms that 

19 offer mobile and online applications for ensuring that, of 

20 those applications that are websites, online services, online 

21 applications, or mobile applications directed to children, 

22 the applications operate in accordance with— 

23 (1) this Act, the amendments made by this Act, 

24 and rules promulgated under this Act; and 


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1 (2) rules promulgated by the Commission under 

2 section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 57a) relating to unfair or deceptive acts or 

4 practices in marketing. 

5 (b) ENFORCEMENT REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year 

7 thereafter, the Federal Trade Commission shall submit to 

8 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

9 of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Com10 merce of the House of Representatives a report that ad11 dresses, at a minimum— 

12 (1) the number of actions brought by the Com13 mission during the reporting year to enforce the 

14 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 

15 (15 U.S.C. 6501) (referred to in this subsection as 

16 the ‘‘Act’’) and the outcome of each such action; 

17 (2) the total number of investigations or inquir18 ies into potential violations of the Act; during the re19 porting year; 

20 (3) the total number of open investigations or 

21 inquiries into potential violations of the Act as of the 

22 time the report is submitted; 

23 (4) the number and nature of complaints re24 ceived by the Commission relating to an allegation 


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1 of a violation of the Act during the reporting year; 

2 and 

3 (5) policy or legislative recommendations to 

4 strengthen online protections for children and teens. 

5 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

6 If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 

7 by this Act, is determined to be unenforceable or invalid, 

8 the remaining provisions of this Act and the amendments 

9 made by this Act shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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