Lawmakers Urge FTC to Use Authority to Make Tech Companies Abide by New Platform Policies

As major tech companies have announced policy changes intended to protect young users online in response to a new United Kingdom children’s privacy law, Sen Edward Markey (D-MA) and Reps Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Lori Trahan (D-MA) wrote to the Federal Trade Commission urging the agency to use its full authority—including its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act—to ensure these companies comply with their new policies. The Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC) took effect in the UK in September 2021 and requires online services available to children and teens to meet 15 key children’s privacy standards, many of which are similar to legislative proposals to update Senator Markey’s 1998 law, the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA), in the United States. “The need to protect young people from privacy threats online is more urgent than ever. Since 2015, American children have spent almost five hours each day watching their screens, and children’s and teens’ daily screen time has increased by 50 percent or more during the coronavirus pandemic,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “We therefore encourage you to use every tool at your disposal to vigilantly scrutinize companies’ data practices and ensure that they abide by their public commitments.”