Quarterly BAS Due (July–September)
Home Office & Expense Deductions Check for Freelancers
Why this matters.
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 15 U.S.C. §§6501–6506, and the FTC’s COPPA Rule at 16 CFR Part 312 apply to any operator of a website, app, game, connected toy or online service that is directed to children under 13, or that has actual knowledge it is collecting personal information from a child under 13. Personal information is broad: names, email addresses, persistent identifiers such as cookies and device IDs, photos, voice recordings and geolocation all count. Before collecting it, you must post a clear privacy notice, give parents direct notice and obtain verifiable parental consent (16 CFR §§312.4–312.5), and let parents review and delete their child’s data (§312.6).
The FTC’s amended COPPA Rule took effect on June 23, 2025, with most changes required by April 22, 2026. It added separate parental consent before disclosing children’s data to third parties such as ad networks, a written information security program (§312.8) and a written data retention policy that bans keeping children’s data indefinitely (§312.10). The FTC enforces COPPA as an unfair or deceptive practice, with civil penalties of more than $50,000 per violation, adjusted each year for inflation, and state attorneys general can also sue (15 U.S.C. §6504). Small app developers and freelance builders of children’s products have been fined as well as large platforms.
