FTC Releases Agenda for Workshop on Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule

The Federal Trade Commission released the agenda for an October 7, 2019 workshop that will examine the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule in light of evolving business practices and new technology in the online marketplace.

The FTC is holding the workshop as part of its review of, and request for public comments regarding, the continued effectiveness of the COPPA Rule, including the 2013 amendments the agency made to the rule. The workshop will explore issues including the increased use of Internet of Things devices, social media, educational technology, and general audience platforms hosting third-party child-directed content. The public comment period for the COPPA Rule review closes on October 23, 2019.

The COPPA Rule requires certain websites and other online services that collect personal information from children under the age of 13 to provide notice to parents and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from these children.

The workshop will feature remarks by FTC Commissioners Christine S. Wilson and Noah Joshua Phillips, as well as presentations by Dr. Jenny Radesky, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School; Morgan Reed, President of ACT: The App Association; and Jonathan Mayer, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University. In addition, the workshop will include panel discussions on the state of the world in children’s privacy; the scope of the COPPA Rule; definitions, exceptions and misconceptions about the COPPA Rule; and the uses and misuses of persistent identifiers.

The workshop, which is free and open to the public, will start at 9 a.m. ET and take place at the Constitution Center, 400 7th St., SW, Washington, D.C. It will be webcast live on the FTC’s website. A link to the webcast and instructions for webcast viewers who would like to submit proposed questions electronically during the panel discussions will be posted to the event page on the day of the workshop.

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