FTC chair launches campaign to restore parental control over kids’ online privacy

In a digital age where children are increasingly immersed in online environments, the issue of children’s online privacy has reached a critical inflection point. At the forefront of addressing this challenge is Andrew Ferguson, the newly appointed Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) who is forcefully articulating a vision to restore parental control over children’s digital lives and to reset the balance between families and tech companies.

During an FTC workshop this week at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., Ferguson opened the event with a keynote address in which he emphasized the need to restore parental control over children’s online experiences and to hold tech companies accountable for practices that exploit young users. He highlighted concerns about addictive design features, exposure to harmful content, and the erosion of parental authority in the digital age.

“Policymakers, advocates, and parents would be foolish to think that the solutions of the past are sufficient for the problems of today,” Ferguson said, noting that “the Internet was a fundamentally different place 25 years ago, with a completely different set of challenges.”

Today, though, he said, the problem is “Americans generate tremendous amounts of personal data online, including records of our browsing histories, political and religious views, hobbies, friends, conversations, medical conditions, credit history, and sexual preferences. Digital platforms and social-media firms then collect, aggregate, share, store, and ultimately monetize these data through targeted advertising.”

Ferguson gave a sharp critique of the current landscape of children’s digital privacy and online safety, arguing that the existing statutory framework – most notably the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) – has failed to keep pace with the rapidly evolving tactics of Big Tech and the growing sophistication of digital advertising systems that monetize children’s data.

Current laws and enforcement mechanisms, Ferguson emphasized, have given tech companies far too much latitude in determining how children are tracked, profiled, and influenced online, often in ways that are opaque even to parents.

Central to Ferguson’s critique is a loophole embedded in COPPA’s implementation. Under the current structure, websites and online services are only required to obtain verifiable parental consent if they knowingly collect data from children under the age of 13 or are explicitly directed at children. This so-called “actual knowledge” standard, Ferguson said, is too easily circumvented.

Platforms can willfully ignore a child’s presence unless incontrovertible evidence forces them to acknowledge it, effectively allowing them to avoid triggering the consent requirements by simply not asking. Ferguson advocated for an end to this legal fiction, asserting that if platforms benefit from children’s data, they should be obligated to treat all users under a certain age as children unless they can verify otherwise.

Moreover, Ferguson expressed concern over the outdated age thresholds embedded in privacy laws. COPPA currently only applies to children under 13, leaving teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 in a legal gray area subject to the same data harvesting practices as adults.

Ferguson suggested that this gap effectively exposes adolescents to a suite of exploitative business models at a stage in life when their cognitive, emotional, and social development is still vulnerable. He urged lawmakers to consider expanding protections to include all minors under 18, thereby aligning data privacy law with developmental science.

Scientific studies have consistently shown that social media use can have significant negative effects on the mental health and well-being of children and young teenagers, especially those who are more impressionable or vulnerable. Psychological studies have shown that algorithm-driven features like infinite scroll and notifications are designed to hijack attention, making social media use compulsive and harder to regulate, especially for younger brains still developing impulse control.

Studies have also shown that excessive social media use is associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem in adolescents, often due to constant exposure to curated, idealized portrayals of peers and so-called “influencers.”

In response to these concerns, the FTC under Ferguson’s leadership has finalized significant amendments to the COPPA Rule, which now include enhanced restrictions on how children’s data can be collected and shared. The new rule, scheduled to take effect on June 23, mandates that operators of child-directed websites and online services must obtain separate, verifiable parental consent not only for data collection but also for any subsequent disclosures of that data to third parties, including advertisers and analytics firms.

The aim of the new rules, Ferguson said, is to create a clear digital perimeter around children’s online activities, where parental oversight – not corporate interest – dictates who has access to sensitive information.

“The revised rule imposes an additional parental opt-in consent requirement before an operator can share children’s personal information,” Ferguson said this week. “To that end, operators must notify parents of the ‘identities and specific categories of any third parties to which the operator discloses personal information and the purposes for such disclosures.’ From now on, when an app or site wants to send a child’s personal information to Big Tech, or to a service provider in China, parents will have the right to say no.”

In addition, the revised COPPA Rule requires clearer disclosures to parents regarding what data is being collected and how it will be used. Ferguson emphasized the need for transparency, stating that meaningful consent cannot exist in an environment where terms of service are designed to confuse or mislead.

The FTC also now mandates that companies provide parents with easy-to-use tools to review and delete their children’s data at any time, a provision that seeks to counteract the “stickiness” of digital profiles that continue to exist long after the original purpose for data collection has expired.

But Ferguson’s ambitions extend beyond rulemaking. He has called upon Congress to enact comprehensive federal legislation that not only reinforces existing protections but also addresses the structural imbalances between families and digital corporations. In his view, the absence of strong federal oversight has led to a “Wild West” scenario where self-regulation has failed, and bad actors continue to flourish. Among the legislative changes Ferguson supports are stricter penalties for companies that violate children’s privacy, standardized age definitions across platforms, and a mandatory “opt-in” model for data collection involving minors.

His appeal to lawmakers also includes support for tools that give parents affirmative control over their children’s digital experience—not merely the ability to react to violations after the fact. Ferguson envisions a framework where parents can proactively set boundaries, access real-time information about how their child’s data is being used and even receive alerts when a child attempts to engage with age-inappropriate content or services.

“Congress should pass privacy legislation requiring that smartphone and operating systems, as well as online services, give parents the tools they need to carry out their preferred approach to supervising and protecting their children online,” Ferguson said. “Parents should be able to decide whether their children can have a personal account on a social media, online gaming, or streaming service platform. Parents should be able to see what messages their children are sending or receiving on a particular service.”

Additionally, Ferguson said, “parents should be able to erase any trace left by their children on these platforms, at all levels of granularity, from individual messages to entire accounts.”

The FTC’s agenda has found echoes among state legislatures and legal advocacy groups. In October 2023, for instance, the Ethics and Public Policy Center outlined model legislation aimed at restoring parental rights over children’s online activity. These laws would require companies to implement robust age-verification systems, allow parents to limit data sharing, and mandate the deletion of children’s profiles upon request.

Not everyone agrees with this approach, though. Critics argue that overly aggressive regulation could stifle innovation and result in surveillance overreach, particularly if age verification processes require the collection of biometric data or government-issued IDs. Civil liberties organizations caution that in trying to protect children, regulators must also avoid normalizing excessive data collection that could create broader risks for privacy and security.

Ferguson has acknowledged these concerns and argues that any verification or control systems must be proportionate, transparent, and subject to rigorous oversight.

Behind Ferguson’s urgency is a deeper understanding of the stakes involved. Today’s children are being shaped not just by their immediate environments but also by a digital ecosystem engineered to capture and monetize attention. Algorithmic content delivery systems are tailored to maximize engagement, often by exploiting psychological vulnerabilities.

When applied to children, these mechanisms can influence behavior, self-image, and even political beliefs. The FTC Chair has characterized this dynamic as a “battle for the soul of childhood,” in which the market incentives of tech companies are fundamentally misaligned with the well-being of the youngest users.

At the same time, Ferguson has stressed that education and parental involvement remain essential components of any effective online safety regime. In FTC consumer advisories and educational resources, the agency continues to urge families to engage in open conversations about digital habits, to set consistent rules about device use, and to leverage the tools available on major platforms to filter content and monitor activity. Still, Ferguson insists that no amount of parental vigilance can substitute for enforceable standards and real accountability.

The FTC’s new direction comes at a time when Congress has struggled to enact major privacy legislation, leaving regulators with the burden of filling in the gaps. As such, Ferguson’s leadership marks a pivotal shift in tone and strategy, signaling a more assertive posture against companies that flout children’s privacy norms.

Until Congress takes more forceful legislative action, the FTC will continue to push forward with the legal and regulatory tools at its disposal, reinforcing the message that protecting children’s online privacy is not merely a matter of consumer choice, but that it is a moral imperative. “We cannot continue to allow an industry to decide what our children see, how they are tracked, or who profits from their attention. Parents – not platforms – should decide what’s best for their kids,” Ferguson said.

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Article Topics

age verification  |  biometrics  |  children  |  COPPA  |  data privacy  |  digital identity  |  FTC  |  legislation  |  U.S. Government