On Dec. 20, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its notice of proposed rulemaking to update the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the latest step in a process that started in 2019 with an FTC request for comments from lawmakers, regulated businesses, advocacy groups, academics, technologists, and members of the general public regarding proposed updates to COPPA, within an environment of growing attention and public concern over online data collection of children's personal information. After consideration of more than 175,000 submissions in response to the request for comments, the FTC has published several proposed and significant changes to COPPA that, if ultimately approved, will require regulated companies that direct online services to children under the age of 13 (or have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information from a child under 13 years of age) to implement significant changes to their business operations. Such proposed changes include:

Separate Opt-In for Targeted Advertising to Children. The FTC proposes a separate opt-in process for third-party sharing or targeted advertising, in addition to the current opt-in parental consent requirement for such activities. For businesses that would seek to promote online engagement with children via push notifications, prior parental consent would be required for such practices.