Jessica Lipson Explores Evolving Tensions Between Age Verification Laws and Children’s Data Privacy

Partner Jessica L. Lipson, co-chair of Morrison Cohen’s Technology, Data & IP Practice, was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article titled “Companies Juggle Verifying Kids’ Ages with Privacy Restrictions,” which examines the growing compliance challenges facing businesses as states enact new age verification laws.

The article explores a difficult bind facing online platforms: with more than 25 states having passed age verification laws, companies that have long maintained they have no users under 13 must now either verify user ages — and risk running afoul of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting children's data — or face penalties under state age verification statutes. The tension is further complicated by data security risks tied to third-party verification vendors and ongoing legal challenges to state laws.

Jessica highlighted the privacy implications of the behavioral monitoring that companies like Roblox conduct on an ongoing basis to detect whether users’ actual behavior matches their declared ages. As she noted in the article, when companies collect children's data to verify age and then combine it with platform usage data, they are effectively profiling children — something that is likely to attract regulatory scrutiny.

Bloomberg Law subscribers may read the full article here.