Facing pressure from Congress and a groundswell of complaints by parents, many of the biggest technology companies are taking belated action to improve privacy protections for their teenage users. Though the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) provides some of the most comprehensive federal privacy rules for internet companies targeting children, no similar legislation protects users 13 and older. Big Tech’s planned actions appear aimed at addressing that gap (and perhaps at preempting a proposed expansion of COPPA that would extend its applicability to users as old as 17), though they vary in approach.
In late July, Facebook announced that it would end some targeted advertising on its Instagram platform by restricting marketers’ access to the interests and browsing activity of users under 18. The company will also default users under 16 into private accounts - Bloomberg
Google is taking a similar tack, using privacy defaults for YouTube users ages 13-17 as a means of protecting that age group (though still allowing them to change to public settings). The company will also start removing “overly commercial content” from YouTube Kid. In the search realm, Google will expand its SafeSearch system to filter explicit results for users under 18 and will “no longer collect location history for that age group.” Like Facebook, Google is also cutting back on ads that target users under 18 - Bloomberg and TechCrunch
Popular short-video app TikTok will also change certain setting defaults to private for its teenage users on a sliding scale that becomes more permissive as users get older, but it will also take steps to limit push notifications based on times of day for certain. Users ages 13-15 won’t get pushes after 9pm, while users 16-17 will be cut off at 10pm - TechCrunch
While these strategies largely rely on the power of inertia in default settings, Apple’s recent announcement that it will introduce new iPhone software “designed to identify and report collections of sexually exploitative images of children” will instead use the company’s device and iCloud access to protect children. The move appears designed at countering “law enforcement’s criticism that Apple doesn’t do enough to help identify criminals who hide their illegal activity behind encryption.” While child protection experts are calling the news a “game changer,” Apple is already taking pains to assure digital-rights groups that its new software “isn’t designed for mass surveillance or the scanning of content on its devices” - WSJ
The Robins Kaplan Privacy Pulse blog features privacy and cybersecurity litigation topics including the latest news in cybersecurity law and policy, privacy legislation, and other related cyber topics making headlines.
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