S 836 United States Senate · 119th Congress

Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act

The Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (S 836) extends COPPA protections to teens aged 13-17 by requiring websites, apps, and online services to obtain verifiable consent from parents for children or from teens themselves before collecting or using their personal information for purposes beyond the service. It defines "personal information" broadly to include biometric data, voice recordings, persistent identifiers, and geolocation information, and prohibits using such information for individual-specific advertising without consent. The bill mandates clear notice about data practices and gives children and teens rights to access, correct, and delete their personal information. Additionally, it requires the FTC to conduct studies on mobile app oversight and the GAO to study teen privacy in financial technology products.

Issues: ✓ Technology

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Jan 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

President

Introduced Mar 4, 2025 Last action Mar 16, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in Senate → Engrossed in Senate · 3 edits · Mar 5, 2026

MINOR

The engrossed version adds a new exemption for advertising directed to shared household connected devices where targeting is based on an adult's profile, and expands the GAO study scope from privacy alone to include mental health risks for teens using financial technology products.

SCOPE

New exemption (A)(iv) excludes from the definition of individual-specific advertising any advertising directed to a connected device used by both adults and children/teens in a household, as long as the ad is targeted to the adult user's profile. This narrows the bill's reach by creating a carve-out for shared-device scenarios.

The GAO study on teens and financial technology products was expanded from examining privacy risks only to also examining mental health risks, with corresponding changes in all three study objectives (identifying products used, identifying risks, and evaluating whether existing laws are sufficient).

TECHNICAL

Punctuation adjustments: a trailing space added after item (ii) and the semicolon at the end of item (iii) changed to 'semicolon or' to properly introduce the new item (iv).

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate with amendments by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S860-869; text: CR S861-868)

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with amendments by Unanimous Consent.

upper

Jan 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with amendments. With written report No. 119-99.

upper

Jun 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Committee

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

1 primary · 21 co-sponsors