Sen. Markey to File Bill to Address Issues of Children ‘Glued’ to Devices

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., plans to introduce legislation in September or October on strategies websites use to “glue” children to devices, said Senior Policy Adviser Joseph Wender Thursday. Markey, who will prioritize two other privacy-related legislative items after congressional recess, is having ongoing conversations with lawmakers about co-sponsoring the Kids (Kids Internet Design and Safety) Act, Wender told us after a Family Online Safety Institute event.

The bill is designed to curb manipulative design features that incentivize children's interaction, limit marketing and commercialization, and block harmful content, Wender said. Another item, the COPPA 2.0 bill, S-748 with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., would amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to strengthen privacy protections for children. It would ban ads targeting anyone under 16 and require companies to secure explicit consent to collect personal and location data from users 13-15. COPPA is working well, but it can be improved to reflect modern challenges, said Wender.

The FTC is reviewing potential changes to COPPA (see 1907170063). Consumer Protection Bureau Privacy and Identity Protection Division Assistant Director Mark Eichorn described the review as one step before a rulemaking process, saying the latter remains a possibility. The agency typically examines major rules like COPPA every 10 years, Eichorn said during the panel. Comments are due Oct. 23.

Markey’s third legislative priority is the Children and Media Research Advancement (CAMRA) Act (S-558), co-authored by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. It would fund a five-year, $95 million National Institutes of Health initiative on the impact of various tech and media on cognitive, physical and socio-emotional development.

Markey recognizes the landscape for COPPA has changed, said Wender, citing the emergence of things like biometrics, genetics and voice assistants. It’s good the agency is reviewing it, and if COPPA ends up stronger, that’s a positive outcome, Wender said. But some groups will try to weaken the law for their own purposes, he said.

The potential rulemaking process is an opportunity to make COPPA “realistic,” said DLA Piper tech lawyer Jim Halpert. He wants the law to allow easier authentication for parents with a lower barrier for their children to have “learning opportunities.” Such barriers sometimes discourage investment and innovation, he said. He said the goal of protecting children is important but figuring out how to do it in a smart way that doesn’t incentivize more data collection is the balance.

Markey doesn’t believe in the false choice that either you protect children or you have creativity and innovation, said Wender: “You can have both.”

Congress at some point will tackle privacy in a comprehensive way, said Wender -- maybe this Congress, maybe the next, maybe the one after. The most realistic result is modifying COPPA to create new protections. Lots of compliance work has gone into the law, said Entertainment Software Rating Board Vice President John Falzone. Hopefully, the act will be supplemented, not wiped out and rebuilt, Falzone said.

Markey and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., questioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Thursday, asking what kind of actions the agency has taken to address cyber vulnerabilities of internet-connected cars. They cited a recent report that “companies such as BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, and Tesla have acknowledged the dangers of internet-connected cars to their investors and shareholders, but have not disclosed these same risks to the public at large.” NHTSA didn't comment.