U.S. senators have approved the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act that would prohibit targeted advertising, mandate data collection consent, and restrict harmful online content exposure among children and teens younger than 17, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Integrated within KOPSA were the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0 — which sought parental approval for collecting data from children under 13, established data minimization rules, and enabled easy data deletion among youths — and the Kids' Online Safety Act, which moved to increase parental control over their children's online activity. "The Senate has sent a clear message that Big Tech's days of targeting and tracking kids and teenagers online are over," said COPPA 2.0 original co-sponsors Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and John Cassidy, R-La., upon the passage of KOPSA. While the bill's approval has garnered support from child safety advocates Fairplay and Common Sense Media, the American Civil Liberties Union noted the bill, especially its KOSA provisions, to violate First Amendment rights.
