COPPA — Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

Why it Matters

COPPA establishes essential privacy safeguards that help organizations responsibly manage children’s personal data while supporting regulatory compliance and risk mitigation.

Key benefits include:

• Strengthen data protection measures

Support responsible collection, use, and storage of children’s personal information through clear management practices and security safeguards.

• Enhance regulatory alignment

Enable organizations to demonstrate compliance with U.S. federal requirements governing children’s privacy and online data collection activities.

• Increase parental trust

Facilitate transparency and parental control over children’s information, promoting confidence among parents and guardians.

• Improve risk management

Reduce the risk of legal penalties and reputational harm by adhering to mandated consent, access, and data usage requirements.

• Support operational integrity

Encourage privacy processes that integrate with existing compliance programs, fostering consistent and secure digital offerings for children.

How it Works

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) establishes a regulatory framework specifically structured around compliance requirements for organizations collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13. COPPA’s structure is built on a set of regulatory mandates that define obligations related to parental consent, privacy notices, data minimization, and security safeguards. The framework also clarifies responsibilities through defined processes for verification, consent management, data access rights, and oversight.

Organizations implement COPPA by integrating compliant privacy practices into their data collection workflows and governance programs. This involves deploying security controls to protect children’s data, conducting regular compliance assessments, and ensuring that parental consent mechanisms are in place and verifiable. Ongoing monitoring, incident management, and documentation of privacy practices help organizations maintain alignment with COPPA requirements and support their risk management activities.

Using SmartSuite, organizations operationalize COPPA compliance by using centralized control libraries for COPPA mandates, maintaining risk registers to track data protection risks, and supporting evidence collection for audits. Policy governance tools, compliance tracking, remediation workflows, and real-time reporting dashboards facilitate effective management of COPPA-specific obligations and support audit readiness.

Key Elements

• Parental Consent Mechanisms

Establishes structured processes for obtaining and verifying parental permission prior to collecting children’s personal information.

• Data Collection Limitations

Specifies boundaries on what data may be gathered from children and under what circumstances.

• Privacy Notice Requirements

Outlines requirements for providing clear, accessible privacy policies regarding children’s data practices.

• Parental Access and Control Procedures

Describes mechanisms for allowing parents to review, modify, or delete their child’s information.

• Information Security Safeguards

Defines security controls necessary to protect the confidentiality and integrity of children’s personal data.

• Regulatory Oversight and Enforcement

Organizes federal oversight, monitoring, and compliance enforcement responsibilities under the Federal Trade Commission.

Framework Scope

COPPA—Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act—is used by digital service providers, education platforms, and entertainment companies interacting with children under 13. The act governs websites, mobile applications, and online services handling children’s data, and is commonly implemented when managing parental consent, privacy risk, and supporting compliance oversight with federal privacy obligations.

Framework Objectives

COPPA sets forth essential requirements to safeguard children’s online privacy and ensure responsible data practices for organizations collecting minors’ information.

Protect the personal data of children under 13 from unauthorized access

Establish clear governance and accountability for children’s data privacy

Enhance compliance with regulatory standards and FTC enforcement actions

Support risk management by requiring verifiable parental consent mechanisms

Strengthen security controls around the collection and storage of children’s information

Demonstrate commitment to data protection, privacy, and improved oversight in digital environments COPPA is a U.S. law focused on children's online privacy and is often mapped to broader privacy frameworks like GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and ISO/IEC 27701 to harmonize consent, data minimization, and parental controls. Organizations implement COPPA for regulatory compliance, privacy-by-design in child-directed products, policy updates, vendor assessments, and audit readiness.

Framework in Context

COPPA is a U.S. law focused on children's online privacy and is often mapped to broader privacy frameworks like GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and ISO/IEC 27701 to harmonize consent, data minimization, and parental controls. Organizations implement COPPA for regulatory compliance, privacy-by-design in child-directed products, policy updates, vendor assessments, and audit readiness.

Common Framework Mappings

Organizations map COPPA to global and national privacy frameworks to align consent, data minimization, cross‑border rules and youth protections, simplifying compliance and risk management.

Mapped frameworks include:

APEC Privacy Framework

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) / California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)

ePrivacy Directive

EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

ISO/IEC 27701

Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGPD)

NIST Privacy Framework

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)