Listen
to
this
post
On
May
22,
2023,
the
Federal
Trade
Commission
filed
an
amicus
brief
in
support
of
a
ruling
by
the
United
States
Court
of
Appeals
for
the
Ninth
Circuit
that
COPPA
does
not
preempt
state
laws
claims
that
are
consistent
with
COPPA.
The
brief
was
filed
in
the
case
of
Jones
v.
Google.
The
lawsuit,
which
was
brought
by
parents
on
behalf
of
their
children,
alleges
that
video
sharing
platform
YouTube,
which
is
owned
by
Google,
and
specific
YouTube
channel
owners
violated
state
laws
by
collecting
personal
information
of
children
under
the
age
of
13
through
persistent
identifiers
without
notifying
and
obtaining
consent
to
do
so
from
their
parents.
Initially,
the
United
States
District
Court
for
the
Northern
District
of
California
held
that
COPPA
preempted
the
state
law
claims.
Following
this
ruling,
the
plaintiffs
appealed
to
the
Ninth
Circuit
which
reversed
this
finding.
Google
then
asked
the
full
Ninth
Circuit
to
review
the
ruling,
leading
the
court
to
ask
the
FTC
to
weigh
in
on
the
matter.
In
the
brief,
the
FTC
agreed
with
the
finding
of
the
appeal
court
that
COPPA’s
preemption
clause
applies
only
to
state
laws
that
are
“inconsistent”
with
COPPA.
The
FTC
stated
that
“Congress
did
not
intend
to
wholly
foreclose
state
protection
of
children’s
online
privacy,
and
the
panel
properly
rejected
an
interpretation
of
COPPA
that
would
achieve
that
outcome.
The
FTC
voted
3-0
to
authorize
the
filing
of
the
brief.
About Author
