Have you ever stopped to think about how much personal information your educational app might be collecting from children? If you're developing an app that kids will use, you're stepping into one of the most heavily regulated areas of digital privacy. And frankly, you need to get this right from day one—there's no room for mistakes when it comes to children's data protection.
The world of privacy laws for educational apps isn't just complicated; it's constantly evolving. What makes this particularly tricky is that children can't legally consent to data collection themselves, which means every piece of information you gather—from usernames to learning progress—falls under strict legal requirements. These aren't suggestions or best practices we're talking about; they're hard legal requirements that carry serious penalties if you get them wrong.
Privacy laws exist to protect our most vulnerable users, and educational apps have a special responsibility to safeguard the children who trust them with their learning journey.
Whether you're building your first educational app or you're a seasoned developer adding child users to your platform, understanding privacy laws like COPPA compliance isn't optional—it's the foundation everything else is built on. The good news? Once you understand the rules, designing with privacy in mind becomes second nature. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know, from basic compliance requirements to the nitty-gritty details of international regulations, so you can build apps that both educate brilliantly and protect children properly.
Understanding COPPA and Why It Matters for Educational Apps
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act—or COPPA as it's more commonly known—is the big one when it comes to protecting kids online in the United States. This law was created back in 1998 when the internet was still pretty young, but it's been updated several times to keep up with how technology has changed. And boy, has it changed!
COPPA applies to any website or mobile app that either targets children under 13 or knowingly collects personal information from them. Educational apps almost always fall into this category, which means if you're building an app for schools, teachers, or young learners, you need to understand these rules inside and out.
What COPPA Actually Requires
The law isn't just about asking for permission—it's much more detailed than that. COPPA requires you to get verifiable parental consent before collecting any personal information from children; explain what information you're collecting and why; give parents the right to review, delete, or stop further collection of their child's data; and keep children's personal information secure and only for as long as needed.
Breaking these rules isn't just embarrassing—it's expensive. The Federal Trade Commission can fine companies up to thousands of pounds per violation, and when you're dealing with educational apps that might have hundreds or thousands of young users, those numbers add up fast.
Why Educational Apps Are Under Extra Scrutiny
Educational apps face particular challenges because they often need to collect information to work properly. Think about it—a maths app might track which problems a student gets wrong to personalise their learning experience. That's genuinely helpful, but it's still collecting personal information about a child's performance and behaviour patterns.
The key is being smart about what you collect and transparent about how you use it.
International Privacy Laws Beyond COPPA
COPPA might be the big name in children's data protection, but it's far from the only game in town. If your educational app has users outside the United States—which most apps do these days—you'll need to get familiar with international privacy laws that can be just as strict, if not stricter, than American regulations.
The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets the bar pretty high when it comes to children's data. Under GDPR compliance for mobile apps, any child under 16 needs parental consent before you can process their personal data; some EU countries have lowered this to 13, but you're safest assuming 16 across the board. The penalties for getting this wrong aren't just a slap on the wrist either—we're talking fines of up to 4% of your global annual revenue.
Other Countries Getting Serious About Children's Privacy
Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) requires meaningful consent for all personal data collection, with special protections for minors. Australia's Privacy Act has similar requirements, and countries like Brazil and India are rolling out comprehensive data protection laws that include specific provisions for children.
Always check the age of consent requirements for each country where your app will be available—they vary significantly and failing to comply could lock you out of entire markets.
The key thing to remember is that these laws often overlap and sometimes conflict with each other. If you're collecting data from a 14-year-old in Germany, you need to comply with both GDPR and potentially COPPA if you're a US-based company. It's complicated, but getting it right from the start saves massive headaches later.
What Counts as Personal Information from Children
When I'm working with educational app developers, one of the biggest areas of confusion is understanding what actually counts as personal information from children. It's not just names and addresses—the definition is much broader than most people realise, and getting it wrong can land you in serious legal trouble.
Under privacy laws like COPPA, personal information includes any data that can identify a specific child or be used to contact them. This covers obvious things like full names, home addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. But it also extends to less obvious information that many developers overlook.
Types of Personal Information You Might Not Expect
Photos, videos, and audio recordings are all considered personal information—even if they don't show the child's face clearly. Screen names and usernames count too, along with any persistent identifiers like device IDs or IP addresses. Geolocation data is another big one; if your app tracks where children are, that's personal information.
- Full names, nicknames, and usernames
- Contact details including email and phone numbers
- Photos, videos, and voice recordings
- Location data and IP addresses
- Device identifiers and cookies
- Biometric data like fingerprints
The Grey Areas That Trip People Up
Here's where it gets tricky—information that's combined with other data can become personal information even if it seems harmless on its own. Age and grade level might seem innocent, but combine them with a school name and you're moving into personal information territory.
The key thing to remember is this: if you can use the information to single out a specific child, contact them, or build a profile about them, it's almost certainly personal information under the law. When in doubt, treat it as personal information and apply the appropriate protections.
Age Verification and Parental Consent Requirements
Getting parental consent right is probably one of the trickiest parts of COPPA compliance—and trust me, I've seen plenty of apps get this wrong over the years. The law is quite clear: if you're collecting personal information from children under 13, you need verifiable parental consent before you start. Not after, not during—before.
Age verification comes first, and it's not as simple as asking "How old are you?" on a registration form. Kids aren't exactly known for their honesty when it comes to age gates, are they? You need robust systems that can reasonably determine if someone is under 13. Many educational apps use neutral age screens that don't incentivise lying, whilst others implement more sophisticated verification methods.
What Counts as Verifiable Consent
Once you've identified a child user, the consent process begins. COPPA accepts several methods for verifiable parental consent, but not all are practical for educational apps. The most common approaches include credit card verification, digital signatures, or video conferencing with parents. Email consent works too, but only for limited data collection activities.
The key word here is verifiable—you need to be reasonably sure you're actually speaking to a parent, not the child pretending to be one
School-based educational apps often benefit from COPPA's school exemption, where teachers and schools can act in place of parents for educational purposes. This doesn't eliminate all consent requirements, but it does streamline the process considerably. The consent mechanism you choose will depend on your app's specific use case, your user base, and frankly, your budget—some verification methods are more expensive than others.
Data Collection Minimisation and Storage Rules
When it comes to collecting children's data, less is always more—and there's good reason for this approach. Privacy laws like COPPA require that educational apps only collect the bare minimum information needed to make the app work properly. This principle is called data minimisation, and it's something I always stress to clients developing children's apps.
Think of it this way: if your educational app teaches maths, you probably don't need to know a child's favourite colour or their home address. You might need their age group for appropriate content, but that's about it. The rule is simple—collect only what you absolutely must have for your app to function.
What Data Can You Actually Collect?
Under COPPA, there are strict limits on what counts as acceptable data collection. You can collect information that's directly related to your app's educational purpose, but it must be the minimum amount possible. For most educational apps, this includes:
- Progress tracking data to show which lessons are complete
- Basic user preferences for the app interface
- Age range information for appropriate content delivery
- Device information needed for technical functionality
Storage Requirements That Actually Matter
Once you've collected this minimal data, storage rules kick in. You cannot keep children's information indefinitely—there are specific timeframes you must follow. The data should be stored securely using encryption methods for app security, and you need clear policies about when it gets deleted. Most importantly, if a parent asks you to delete their child's data, you must do so promptly and completely. These aren't suggestions; they're legal requirements that can result in hefty fines if ignored.
Third-Party Services and Data Sharing Restrictions
When you're building an educational app that collects children's data, you can't just think about your own privacy practices—you need to consider every third-party service you integrate. Analytics platforms, advertising networks, cloud storage providers, social media plugins—they all come with their own data handling practices that might not align with COPPA compliance.
The golden rule here is simple: any third-party service you use must also comply with the same privacy laws that govern your app. This means if your app serves children under 13, every single third-party integration needs to be COPPA compliant too. You can't pass the buck and say "well, that's Google Analytics' responsibility"—the legal obligation sits squarely with you as the app operator.
Common Third-Party Service Restrictions
Most privacy laws place strict limits on what you can do with children's data when it comes to sharing:
- No behavioural advertising or targeted marketing to children
- No selling or monetising children's personal information
- Limited data sharing for operational purposes only
- Requires explicit parental consent for any data sharing beyond basic functionality
- Must ensure third parties delete data when you do
Before integrating any third-party service, ask them directly about their COPPA compliance status and request documentation. Many popular services offer special "education" or "child-safe" versions of their APIs specifically for this reason.
Due Diligence Requirements
You're legally required to vet your third-party partners properly. This means reading their privacy policies, understanding their data retention practices, and ensuring they have appropriate safeguards in place. Some services automatically scan content or profiles for advertising purposes—that's a red flag for children's apps right there.
The safest approach? Keep third-party integrations to an absolute minimum when dealing with children's data, and always choose services that explicitly state they're designed for educational use with minors.
Conclusion
Building educational apps that collect children's data isn't something you can wing—the legal requirements are strict and the consequences of getting it wrong are serious. After eight years of helping clients navigate these waters, I've seen how easy it is to overlook a requirement or misunderstand what counts as personal information.
The key takeaway? Start with privacy by design, not as an afterthought. COPPA compliance isn't just about getting parental consent; it's about minimising data collection, securing what you do collect, and being transparent about your practices. And if you're planning to launch internationally, remember that GDPR, Canada's PIPEDA, and other regional laws might apply too—each with their own nuances.
Age verification remains one of the trickiest areas. There's no perfect solution, but combining multiple indicators and erring on the side of caution will serve you well. The same goes for working with third-party services—just because they claim to be COPPA-compliant doesn't mean your integration with them automatically is.
Don't try to navigate this alone. Privacy laws change, enforcement gets stricter, and what worked last time might not work now. Work with legal experts who understand children's privacy laws, conduct regular audits of your data practices, and keep detailed records of your compliance efforts. Your users' trust—and your business—depend on it.
The educational app market is growing rapidly, but only those who take privacy seriously will thrive in this regulated environment.
