The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is signaling its intent to encourage broader adoption of age verification technologies across the online ecosystem. This effort, which was a focus of a recent workshop, could lead to new compliance considerations and costs for businesses.
The signal came from the FTC's January 28, 2026, workshop on "Protecting America’s Children: A Workshop to Explore Age Verification Technologies." The event featured remarks from FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Commissioner Mark Meador, and Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Christopher Mufarrige, alongside panelists from industry, state legislatures, academia, and think tanks.
Key Workshop Themes for Industry
- COPPA: Focus on Enhanced Enforcement: Chairman Andrew Ferguson vowed to push the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) as far as it lawfully can go to protect kids. This could lead to a future policy statement and a rule amendment promoting age verification for COPPA compliance, regardless of compliance costs. FTC officials emphasized that COPPA should not operate as a barrier to effective child-protective technologies, and that future regulatory approaches may seek to align age verification with COPPA’s core parental-control objectives.
- Challenges in Regulatory Consistency: While age verification is legally sound for content obscene to minors, the workshop highlighted that the legal test for balancing child protection and user privacy for non-obscene content (like social media or app access) remains unresolved. Furthermore, companies are struggling with a growing problem of conflicting state and global standards, leading to complex, unharmonized compliance efforts. For example, Texas (HB 1181) and Louisiana (Act 440) have enacted laws aimed at “harmful content” thresholds, whereas Florida (HB 3) and Mississippi (HB 1126) target platform design and algorithmic feeds. This “patchwork” approach is further complicated by Virginia’s (SB 854) default one-hour daily time limits and California’s (SB 976) ban on "addictive feeds."
- Privacy and Data Collection Considerations: Accurate age verification often requires collecting highly sensitive personal data, increasing breach risks. This also creates a structural tension with COPPA's existing parental notice-and-consent framework, as verification may require collecting a child's personal data before consent is secured—a conflict the FTC is actively examining.
Implications for Business
The FTC is reinforcing its focus on stronger children’s online protection and parental control, viewing age verification as a key tool. Participants in the workshop recognized that different age verification technologies may be appropriate for different situations, especially when tailored to a risk-based approach. Companies should proactively reassess their compliance strategy—not just for COPPA, but for the complex legal and technological hurdles of the new age verification era. For more information about how the FTC’s approach to age verification may apply to your company, please contact any of the authors of this article for additional information.
