California’s strict child-data bill would limit Big Tech data collection

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California lawmakers plan to introduce a new bill to protect children’s data online this Thursday, mirroring the UK’s recently introduced children’s code, as part of growing momentum globally for stricter regulation on Big Tech.

The California age appropriate design code bill will require many of the world’s biggest tech platforms headquartered in the state—such as social media group Meta and Google’s YouTube — to limit the amount of data they collect from young users and the location tracking of children in the state.

If passed into law, it will also place restrictions on profiling younger users for targeted advertising, mandate the introduction of “age-appropriate” content policies, and ban serving up behavioral nudges that might trick them into weakening their privacy protections.