Congress expands child privacy law to teens, bans targeted ads to minors

What it does

This bill strengthens the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by expanding protections to include teens ages 13–16, broadening the definition of 'personal information' to cover persistent identifiers and biometric data, and restricting companies from collecting and using children's and teens' data for targeted advertising. It requires verifiable consent from parents (for children) or teens themselves before data collection, mandates deletion rights, and limits data retention. The bill also requires the FTC to study fintech products' effects on teen privacy and mental health.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is regulatory tightening—expanding COPPA's scope to teens, restricting data collection and targeted advertising, and mandating parental/teen consent and deletion rights. It is a consumer protection measure, not a carve-out or subsidy.

What the text implies

• The 'knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances' standard for determining if a user is a child/teen is subjective and may create enforcement ambiguity; the FTC guidance (due in 180 days) will be critical to interpretation but is explicitly non-binding on enforcement.
• Educational institutions can bypass parental consent if they have a written agreement with an operator limiting use to 'educational purposes'—the definition of 'educational purposes' is not specified, potentially allowing broad data use within schools.
• The bill permits operators to terminate service if a parent/teen refuses data collection, but prohibits termination based solely on deletion requests—this creates a tension: operators can refuse new users but must serve existing users without data.
• Biometric data (fingerprints, facial templates, voice prints, gait) is now classified as personal information, but the bill does not specify enforcement mechanisms or penalties for biometric collection violations, leaving enforcement discretion to the FTC.
• The 'common verifiable consent mechanism' (Section 1303(7)) allows a single operator to obtain consent on behalf of multiple listed operators—this could reduce friction for platforms but may obscure which entities are collecting data from a minor.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Children and teens gain explicit rights to delete their data, challenge inaccuracies, and opt out of targeted advertising; parents gain transparency and control over data collection. Companies lose the ability to profile minors for ad targeting and must implement stronger security. The bill does not create broad exemptions or liability shields for platforms.

Named in the bill

Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Educational agencies and institutions, State attorneys general, Comptroller General (GAO)

Where it stands

21 cosponsors: 13 Democrats, 7 Republicans, 1 Independents.

• Mar 4, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Mar 4, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
• Jun 25, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably”
• Mar 5, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with amendments by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S860-869; text: CR S861-868)”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

53 lobbying clients named this bill on 73 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $40,050,909 in lobbying spend. A filing names 17 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 99% of bills with at least one filing.

Ed Markey, the sponsor, reported $658,450 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Google Client Services LLC — $6,920,000 on 2 filings
• Meta Platforms, Inc. and Various Subsidiaries — $5,990,000 on 1 filing
• American Association for Justice — $3,610,000 on 2 filings
• Entertainment Software Association — $2,810,000 on 2 filings
• Microsoft Corporation — $2,690,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 23, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.