Online Child Privacy Laws a Step Closer

Two proposed laws to boost online privacy and security for children have received widespread backing in the Senate. Whether the measures will make it into law remains unclear.

The laws are the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teen's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). They've now been combined into a single package for administrative and voting purposes.

86 Senators agreed the laws should be considered by the Senate while just one voted against. That means they will go to a final approval vote after further discussion. (Source: ctmirror.org)

Greater Parental Controls

KOSA takes two main approaches. One is to make websites have a legal duty of care to mitigate specific risks to young users such as online bullying, information about eating disorders, and exploitation.

The other is to require additional controls for accounts for children (including via parental settings). These include the ability to choose stricter privacy setting, opt out of content recommended by an algorithm, and disable "addictive features."

COPPA 2 is an update to an existing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule that says sites must get parental consent to collect personal data about under 13s. That's one of the reasons many social networking sites don't allow pre-teen users.

The new law would extend this requirement to cover under 17s. It would also bar targeted advertising being shown to under 17s. (Source: insideprivacy.com)

A Matter of Time

Opponents of the bills say the measures would breach free speech principles, though their authors insist they do not violate the First Amendment. As the vote numbers show, the bills have bipartisan support and it appears this may carry over as and when the Senate approves them and send them to the House of Representatives. The White House has also indicated the President would be willing to sign the bills into law.

However, whether the bills get that far may be more about timing than political support. There's no guarantee they will get to a final House Vote before the end of the succession, or that they'd be reintroduced into a new post-election session when the makeup and priorities of Congress may have changed.

What's Your Opinion?

Do you support either or both of the bills? Should this be a legal matter or left to parents to control? Do you think the laws would be effective?