Meta's $18B settlement includes allowance to keep kids' data for age detection
Meta's settlement with 29 state attorneys general includes a provision allowing the company to retain and use data from children under 13 to train an age-detection model. The states agree not to sue Meta under COPPA or similar laws for this specific use, with guardrails prohibiting ad targeting. The deal raises enforcement questions since the FTC is not a party.
The settlement stems from a multistate investigation into Meta's handling of minors on its platforms, with the $18 billion figure representing one of the largest child-safety-related agreements in U.S. history. Under the terms, Meta has one year to build and begin testing an age-assurance system designed to identify users under 13, though the agreement leaves unspecified the exact types of behavioral data that may be retained for this purpose.
The deal's structure creates a notable legal landscape: while state attorneys general have agreed not to pursue COPPA-related claims for this specific data use, the Federal Trade Commission retains independent authority to enforce federal child privacy law. An independent auditor will monitor Meta's compliance, and any data use beyond the stated purpose of age detection would fall outside the settlement's protections.
This settlement could reshape how tech companies approach age verification across the industry, potentially establishing a template for using children's data in compliance systems. However, the exclusion of the FTC from the agreement may create enforcement gaps that could affect how rigorously these guardrails are monitored. Parents and privacy advocates may see this as a trade-off between improved age enforcement and weakened legal recourse, while other platforms could view the provision as a precedent for similar arrangements.