August 1, 2025

Industry News 

72% of US teens have used AI companions, study finds (Tech Crunch) Read more >>

How US States Are Shaping AI Policy Amid Federal Debate and Industry Pushback (TechPolicy.Press) Read more >>

Age Verification Laws Send VPN Use Soaring—and Threaten the Open Internet (Wired) Read more >>

Arkansas Delays Enforcing Social Media Law (MediaPost) Read more >>

Apple Makes Major Changes to App Store's Age Ratings (PC Mag) Read more >>

Teen Privacy Patchwork Sparks Rush for New Compliance Tools (Bloomberg Law) Read more >>

Australia bans YouTube accounts for children under 16 in reversal of previous stance (ABC News) Read more >>

Mississippi urges court to uphold restrictions on children’s access to social media (SCOTUSblog) Read more >>

Albanese says banning children from social media ‘not going to be easy’ as key questions unanswered (The Guardian) Read more >>

After the UK, online age verification is landing in the EUs (TechRadar) Read more >>

Big Tech Seeks to Head Off Colorado ‘Backdoor’ Age Verification (Bloomberg Law) Read more >> 

Inquiry finds UK Government must regulate GenAI and close online safety loopholes (5Rights Foundation ) Read more >>

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Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions  (CommonSense Media) Read more >>

New research reveals how children face financial harm online (5Rights Foundation) Read more >>

Algorithmic Kids: Towards child-centred AI in Australia (UNICEF Australia) Read more >>

What is a COPPA Safe Harbor and why work with one?

Collecting personal information from children online intentionally or unintentionally is fraught with risks for digital services. Joining an FTC approved COPPA Safe Harbor mitigates those risks, protects brands, builds trust and integrity, supporting business growth and most importantly helps to protect children.

COPPA Safe Harbor is now more important than ever as the the FTC published the updated COPPA Rule in April and online services need to comply with the updates by April 22, 2026, that’s less than a year to get in shape for the changes. 

Read our latest blog to learn about the benefits to joining an FTC approved COPPA safe harbor program.