FTC warns edtech companies to not use children's data for ads and other commercial purposes without parental consent, saying it will “vigilantly enforce” COPPA
The Federal Trade Commission voted 5- on Thursday to issue a policy statement warning education tech companies …
CyberScoopTonya Riley
Context & Ripple Effects
This warning lands after years of pressure on the FTC to take children's privacy enforcement seriously: in 2018, twenty child advocacy and privacy groups formally asked the agency to investigate whether YouTube was violating COPPA, a test of whether the law had teeth beyond settlements. The edtech policy statement is the commission answering that question for a new sector — classroom software that sits directly between schools and advertisers.
The statement also set the template the FTC has reused since: a year later it moved from warnings to litigation, preparing a complaint alleging Amazon's Alexa speakers collected data on kids under 13 without parental consent, and by late 2023 it proposed tightening the rules themselves with opt-in targeted ads for under-13s.
First-order effects
Edtech companies that monetize student data through advertising or other commercial uses now face explicit FTC enforcement risk under COPPA, and must obtain verifiable parental consent before such use.
Second-order effects
School districts and parents gain leverage in procurement negotiations, as vendors competing for classroom contracts must demonstrate consent-based data practices rather than rely on school authorization alone.
Third-order effects
If the FTC follows warnings with complaints — as it later did against Amazon's Alexa business — COPPA enforcement shifts from negotiated settlements to litigation, raising the compliance bar across any consumer product that touches children's data.
The trend: Children's online privacy is moving from a niche compliance issue to an active FTC enforcement priority spanning edtech, voice assistants, and ad targeting.
FTC to crack down on companies that illegally surveil children learning online. Agency issued policy statement warning that it's against the law to force parents & schools to surrender children's privacy rights in order to access educational tools: https://www.ftc.gov/... #edtech
Today, the FTC adopted (5-0) a policy statement saying it will enforce COPPA against ed tech companies that condition access to their services on parents agreeing to unrelated data collection. A quick thread on non-retaliation and why it's important. https://www.ftc.gov/... https…
The FTC took a big swing at ed tech providers. The White House and children's privacy advocates in Congress are praising the move. More here: https://www.cyberscoop.com/...
Interesting. Wonder how the USDOE Office of Edtech will incorporate FTC's new COPPA policy statement. “Students must be able to do their schoolwork without surveillance by companies” https://www.ftc.gov/... https://twitter.com/...
1. Today's FTC Policy Statement puts firms on notice that under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) & Rule, kids must be able to do their schoolwork without having to surrender to commercial surveillance practices. https://www.ftc.gov/...
Please read the below FTC statement and their full policy at the link provided I thank the FTC for their pro-activity. Curious if anyone can provide a link to reports of this behavior already occurring. Thnkx https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
“The policy statement underscores that, even as companies across the economy become more aggressive in harvesting and monetizing individuals' data, ed tech providers cannot do the same” 💥💥💥 https://twitter.com/...