Under Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 13 Is “Adult” Online: What Parents Need to Know
For most parents, a 13th birthday is a milestone marking the beginning of the teenage years—a time for increased responsibility, but certainly not the start of adulthood. However, in the eyes of federal law and the tech industry, the moment a child turns 13, the "digital training wheels" come off.
Under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the age of 13 is the legal threshold where a child is suddenly treated as an adult regarding their data and privacy. At the Child Safe Tech Alliance, we believe it is crucial for parents to understand that this "legal adulthood" has nothing to do with a child's maturity and everything to do with how much data a company can harvest.
The COPPA Cliff: What Happens at 13?
COPPA was enacted in 1998 to protect children under 13 by requiring apps and websites to get "verifiable parental consent" before collecting personal information. While this sounds protective, it creates a "privacy cliff" the moment a child turns 13:
The Consent Shift: Once a child is 13, tech companies no longer need a parent's permission to track their location, collect their search history, or build a behavioral profile on them.
Data Harvesting Unleashed: For children 12 and under, apps are legally restricted from many types of data mining. At 13, that child is essentially "fair game" for advertisers to track across the web to serve targeted, sometimes manipulative, ads.
Safety Features Vanish: Many platforms default to stricter privacy settings for younger users. Upon turning 13, these accounts often automatically shift to "adult" defaults, which may include public profiles and open direct messaging from strangers.
The Maturity Gap
The biggest danger of the "13-as-Adult" standard is the assumption of maturity. Brain science tells us that 13-year-olds are still years away from fully developed impulse control and risk assessment. Yet, the law treats them as if they have the same capacity as a 40-year-old to read 50-page "Terms of Service" agreements and understand the long-term implications of their digital footprint.
Tech companies aren't choosing the age of 13 because it’s safe; they are using it because it is the earliest point at which the law allows them to monetize a user’s personal data without the "hurdle" of a parent's involvement.
Beyond COPPA: The Alliance Mission
The Child Safe Tech Alliance believes that a child’s right to privacy shouldn’t expire on their 13th birthday. We are working to establish new standards that reflect the reality of adolescent development. Our goal is to influence a "Safety by Design" framework where:
Protections Scale with Age: Safety shouldn't be an on/off switch at 13; it should be a gradual release of features based on verified maturity and safety benchmarks.
Default Privacy for All Minors: We advocate for "Privacy by Default" for everyone under 18, ensuring that teenagers aren't exploited by the same data-harvesting machines as adults.
What Parents Can Do Now
Until the law catches up to reality, parents must remain the primary advocates:
Don’t "Set and Forget": Re-visit privacy settings on your child’s 13th birthday. Don't assume the app will keep their best interests in mind.
Discuss the Business Model: Teach your teen that if an app is "free," they are the product. Explain that their data—their likes, their location, their friends—is what the app is actually selling.
Advocate for Change: Join the Child Safe Tech Alliance in calling for updated regulations that protect the "forgotten" age group of 13-to-17-year-olds.
The digital world may call them adults, but they are still our children. It's time our technology reflected that.
