Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (United States)

This law applies to companies and organizations that knowingly collect data about children under the age of 13 who are located in the United States. COPPA requires websites, apps and other online entities to obtain parental consent for the collection of a child’s personal information - which can be translated into the following: 

1. A first and last name;

2. A home or other physical address including street name and name of a city or town;

3. Online contact information as defined in this section;

4. A screen or user name where it functions in the same manner as online contact information, as defined in this section;

5. A telephone number;

6. A Social Security number;

7. A persistent identifier that can be used to recognize a user over time and across different websites or online services. Such persistent identifiers include, but are not limited to, a customer number held in a cookie, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a processor or device serial number, or unique device identifier;

8. A photograph, video, or audio file where such file contains a child's image or voice;

9. Geolocation information sufficient to identify street name and name of a city or town; or

10. Information concerning the child or the parents of that child that the operator collects online from the child and combines with an identifier described in this definition.