COPPA Rewrites: CLE to Guide Legal Teams on New Parental Consent Rules
Greenberg Traurig will host an April 28 CLE on COPPA amendments requiring parental consent and new state laws.
Why it matters: Legal advisers must quickly master tougher COPPA rules—especially new parental consent standards—and the surge in state child privacy laws arriving in 2025-2026. Noncompliance can lead to major FTC action and steep fines.
- April 28, 2026 CLE covers federal COPPA and multiple new state kids’ privacy laws.
- COPPA amendments effective June 23, 2025, require opt-in, verifiable parental consent for using children's data.
- COPPA now covers biometrics and government IDs; mandates prompt deletion of child data.
- FTC has ramped up enforcement: e.g., $20M Epic Games penalty for COPPA violations in 2022.
Greenberg Traurig is hosting a CLE, "Children’s Privacy Law Developments," on April 28, 2026. The session aims to help lawyers advise clients on rapidly changing children’s data rules—both federal and state.
- Presenters Andrea Maciejewski and Sarah Stein will break down the revised federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), finalized by the FTC in April 2025 and effective June 23, 2025.
The updated COPPA rule expands the definition of personal information (now including biometrics and government-issued IDs) and requires opt-in, verifiable parental consent for companies to use children's data for things like advertising. The rules demand prompt deletion of children's data when it's no longer needed, ending indefinite retention.
Attendees will also review state-level developments, including California’s policy that obligates online services to design with children's best interests in mind and enforce age verification. States such as Texas and Arkansas are implementing similar laws, adding complexity for national platforms.
The FTC is backing up these changes with action: In 2022, the FTC and DOJ obtained a $20 million penalty against Epic Games for COPPA violations—one of several high-profile settlements in the last three years.
Legal teams should closely follow compliance deadlines and take advantage of public-facing guidance from regulators such as the FTC’s children’s privacy portal, as state and federal scrutiny increases through 2026.
By the numbers:
- $20 million — penalty Epic Games paid in 2022 for COPPA violations
- June 23, 2025 — effective date for key COPPA amendments
- April 28, 2026 — Greenberg Traurig children’s privacy CLE event
Yes, but: Yes, but much depends on future court challenges to state laws, as industry groups already question their constitutionality.
What's next: Attorneys should prepare for the April 22, 2026 COPPA compliance deadline and watch for more FTC enforcement releases.