In comments filed this week with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, EPIC urged the NTIA to focus its work around youth safety and privacy on “the harmful design practices and extensive data collection that perpetuate commercial surveillance of children and teens.”
As children and teens have come to spend more and more of their lives online, existing laws have failed to keep pace or to protect minors from harm. In the face of growing risks from AI and other emerging technologies, EPIC urged the NTIA to endorse safeguards like data minimization and a ban on targeted advertising to minors in its policy recommendations. EPIC also identified a wide range of risks that minors face from being active online, including privacy, psychological, and physical harms.
EPIC has longe advocated for heightened privacy protections for minors, including in educational and commercial settings. EPIC continues to back comprehensive privacy laws like the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) and state-level ADPPA that include special protections for minors.