|
The
bill, which was adopted by voice vote, will now go to the full
Senate for consideration. There currently is no version of this
bill in the House of Representatives.
The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Democratic Senator Edward
Markey along with Senators Bill Cassidy, Richard Blumenthal and
Cynthia Lummis, would raise from 12 to 16 the age of the
children afforded special privacy protections online under an
update of Markey's 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
(COPPA).
Markey has previously singled out for criticism companies like
Meta's Facebook, Google's YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat.
Under the new bill, companies would not be allowed to collect
personal information on anyone 16 years old or younger without
consent and require companies to allow young users to erase
personal information. It would also create an office within the
Federal Trade Commission, which currently enforces COPPA, to
address online privacy and marketing concerns related to minors.
Broad privacy legislation, which would protect adults, has been
introduced regularly in Congress but failed amid fights over
whether it would preempt state laws, which are sometimes
stronger, or whether individuals would be allowed to sue in the
case of privacy violations.
A U.S. House committee approved this month a bill to create the
first U.S. privacy law limiting personal information that
companies collect online, but it faces an uncertain fate in the
Senate.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
