On July 25, 2019, the Commission initiated periodic review of its Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule or Rule). 84 FR 35842 (July 25, 2019). The FTC requested public comment on all major provisions of the COPPA Rule, including its definitions, notice and parental consent requirements, exceptions to verifiable parental consent, and safe harbor provision.  The Commission held a public workshop to review the COPPA Rule on October 7, 2019. The extended public comment period closed on December 11, 2019.

On May 19, 2022, the Commission issued a Policy Statement on Education Technology and the COPPA Rule. Going forward, the Commission will closely scrutinize the providers of educational technology services and will act where providers fail to meet their legal obligations with respect to children’s privacy.

Among other things, the COPPA Rule requires operators of certain commercial websites and online services to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children. An operator must make reasonable efforts, in light of available technology, to ensure that the person providing consent is the child's parent. The Commission amended the Rule in 2013 to, among other things, expand the definition of personal information covered by the Rule and to include in the definition of "website" or "online service directed to children," operators of online services with actual knowledge they are collecting personal information directly from users of other websites or online services directed to children.

Having considered the public comments from the July 2019 periodic rule review, the 2022 Policy Statement, and recent enforcement actions brought under the COPPA Rule, on December 20, 2023, the Commission announced proposed changes to the Rule aimed at addressing evolving ways in which personal information is being collected, used, and disclosed and at clarifying and streamlining the Rule. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on January 11, 2024 (89 FR 2034), and the public comment period closed on March 11, 2024.