Bipartisan legislation to protect children and teenagers online was introduced Tuesday as their technology usage during the coronavirus pandemic has skyrocketed.
Sens. Ed Markey, a Democrat of Massachusetts, and Bill Cassidy, a Republican of Louisiana, introduced the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act legislation to update online data privacy rules.
“Big Tech has a voracious appetite for kids’ attention and data, and these companies have no problem prioritizing their own profits over children and teens’ right to privacy,” Markey said in a statement.
“It’s time for Congress to swiftly put in place strict safeguards that stop these powerful platforms from tracking young people at every turn in the online ecosystem,” he added.
The bill would update a children’s privacy law he helped author in 1998 by prohibiting online platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat from collecting personal information from anyone 13 to 15 years old without the user’s consent.
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It would create an online “Eraser Button” to permit users to remove personal information about children or teenagers and create a new Federal Trade Commission division focused on youth privacy and marketing.
The legislation would also ban targeted advertising directed at children, require online companies to be more transparent about information they collect, and set robust cybersecurity standards for devices and gadgets targeted at children.
“Parents don’t want internet companies targeting their children online,” said Cassidy. “We protect young children’s privacy, we should protect teenagers online too. This bill prohibits internet companies from collecting personal information on young teenagers without consent.”
A press release for the bill highlighted that children’s use of the internet has doubled by some estimates, and a quarter of teenagers report using social media “almost constantly.”
This has led to over 90% of parents wanting children’s privacy rules extended to teenagers and more comprehensive protections to safeguard online activity.
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The legislation has the support of many prominent privacy and child safety advocacy groups, including the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, the Center for Digital Democracy, Common Sense Media, and Focus on the Family.
