Kids & Teens Group
Hintze’s Kids + Teens Privacy and Safety Group specializes in counseling clients on the rapidly evolving global laws and regulations affecting children, teens, and students. We routinely provide practical, strategic, and solution-oriented advice for clients as they navigate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and U.S. state and global privacy, safety, and age-appropriate design laws (AADCs).
Our clients include multinational clients in a broad range of fields including AI, online gaming, ed tech, music and video streaming services, sports, wellness, fintech, publishing, retail, social media companies, mobile, advertising, biometrics, and SAAS companies.
The matters we handle include:
Regulatory Matters Involving Minor Data. We have extensive experience responding to inquiries and investigations involving child and teen data and online safety from the FTC, state Attorneys General, and international data protection authorities, as well as managing compliance with consent decrees and settlement agreements. Our past expertise in FTC Section 5 & 6(b) & state AG, COPPA, children and teen privacy investigations include:
COPPA investigation by the FTC into practices of OpenFeint, Inc. (closed successfully)
U.S. v. Musical.ly, Inc. (now TikTok) - FTC COPPA investigation and ongoing order compliance
Byte Dance (TikTok) in an investigation by the FTC seeking data about privacy practices of the social media and video streaming industry
a mobile app gaming companies in FTC CID COPPA investigations
a robot toy company in an FTC CID COPPA investigation
a mobile ad company in a New Mexico state AG COPPA investigation
a mobile ad company in a California state AG COPPA investigation
a sports technology company in a California state AG COPPA investigation
COPPA and Minor Privacy and Online Safety Compliance. We provide strategic and actionable advice for designing, launching, and implementing parental consent, parental privacy notices, age gating and assurance, age appropriate design, content controls and monitoring, minor and parental rights controls and processes, and advertising and profiling restrictions in a shifting landscape with a patchwork of laws and policies.
We also regularly consult with clients on understanding and complying with third party developer guidelines relating to children and minors including mobile operating systems, streaming devices, personal assistant devices, gaming consoles, and social media platforms.
FERPA and Student Privacy Laws. We regularly assist ed tech clients on FERPA and other educational laws to address student privacy and risk regarding AI and online safety.
Risk Assessments. We assist clients in conducting risk assessments to assess compliance with AI, COPPA, AADC, FERPA and other U.S and international laws that govern child, teens, and student data.
AI Governance & Policies. We assist clients in developing AI governance programs to address legal compliance and best practices, including developing policies, training, and other measures. We design AI products, services and features involving children, teens, students, and families, to address risks related to generative AI content and outputs, AI companions and chatbots, potentially harmful recommendation and personalization engines, potentially addictive feeds, and use of minor data for AI model training.
Vendor Compliance Reviews. We provide assistance with reviewing and assessing vendor compliance with child, teen, and student privacy and online safety laws through due diligence, contract review and negotiation, and ongoing auditing.
