United States of America: Closed FTC consultation on "Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation" mechanism for obtaining parental consent under COPPA

On 21 August 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) closed its consultation on a new mechanism for obtaining parental consent under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule (COPPA). COPPA requires online sites and services to obtain parental consent before collecting or using a child’s personal information. To facilitate implementation, COPPA allows entities to request the FTC to approve new methods of verifiable parental consent. In this context, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) together with Yoti, a digital identity company, and SuperAwesome, a technology provider of children’s privacy safeguards, applied for approval of a “Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation” technology which analyzes the geometry of a user’s face to confirm that they are an adult. In particular, the FTC will publish the consultation in the Federal Register to examine whether this new mechanism is covered by existing methods, whether the mechanism complies with COPPA, and whether the mechanism poses privacy risks. Originally, the FTC had 120 days to respond. Due to the high amount of responses, the FTC will decide until 30 January 2024.