COPPA 16 CFR 312.2 - Mixed audience definition and directed-to-children paragraph (3)
Assess mixed-audience eligibility and enforce neutral age determination before non-exempt collection from any visitor
Where this comes from
Provision: 16 CFR 312.2 - Mixed audience definition and directed-to-children paragraph (3)
Instrument: Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
Citation: 16 CFR 312.2 (Mixed audience website or online service; Website or online service directed to children, paragraphs (1) and (3)); 312.5(c); 90 FR 16918 (22 April 2025)
Text version: 16 CFR 312.2 and 312.3, eCFR displayed through 3 September 2026, checked 6 September 2026; FTC May 2026 Not Just for Kids' Sites and Six-Step Compliance Plan used as staff guidance. 2025 final amendments generally require compliance from 22 April 2026. Current metadata does not implement historical-version evaluation.
Checked against the source: 6 September 2026
Who it applies to
It applies when all of these are true:
- COPPA assessed activity Q_COPPA_MIXED_AUDIENCE_PATH: YES
What engineering work it implies
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- Establish child-directed eligibility under the actual 312.2 factors and that children are not the primary audience; having adult users or a mixed-age label is insufficient.
- Test collection from every visitor before age determination, including guests, landing-page SDKs, server calls and passive identifiers; permit only a specifically established limited 312.5(c) purpose with all applicable conditions.
- Use age information or another reasonably calculated means considering available technology, with a neutral method, no default age and no cues encouraging falsification; date of birth, persistent cookies, ID uploads and facial images are not prescribed by this definition.
- Test unknown, failed and conflicting age results, direct guest access and pre-determination traffic; unresolved determination must not silently become adult status or permit non-exempt collection.
- For visitors identified under 13, apply the actual notice, consent/conditioned-exception and remaining duties. Age determination is not parental consent; do not use mixed-audience treatment to exclude children from a primarily child-directed service.
Evidence an auditor expects
- Assessment documentDocument review
Mixed-audience eligibility and pre-determination data-flow review
[ ] Establish child-directed eligibility under the actual 312.2 factors and that children are not the primary audience; having adult users or a mixed-age label is insufficient. [ ] Test collection from every visitor before age determination, including guests, landing-page SDKs, server calls and passive identifiers; permit only a specifically established limited 312.5(c) purpose with all applicable conditions. [ ] Use age information or another reasonably calculated means considering available technology, with a neutral method, no default age and no cues encouraging falsification; date of birth, persistent cookies, ID uploads and facial images are not prescribed by this definition. [ ] Test unknown, failed and conflicting age results, direct guest access and pre-determination traffic; unresolved determination must not silently become adult status or permit non-exempt collection. [ ] For visitors identified under 13, apply the actual notice, consent/conditioned-exception and remaining duties. Age determination is not parental consent; do not use mixed-audience treatment to exclude children from a primarily child-directed service. [ ] Preserve minimized eligibility, method, traffic and decision evidence without raw child age/identity payloads. Review current February 2026 age-verification enforcement discretion separately; no checkbox automatically grants a rule or policy exception. This evidence supports review; it is not legal approval, consent or an automatic exception.
Questions people ask
- Does COPPA 16 CFR 312.2 - Mixed audience definition and directed-to-children parag… apply to my service?
- It applies when COPPA assessed activity Q_COPPA_MIXED_AUDIENCE_PATH: YES.
- From when does this apply?
- COPPA 16 CFR 312.2 - Mixed audience definition and directed-to-children parag… applies from 22 April 2026. Its current status is: in force.
- What evidence does an auditor expect?
- Mixed-audience eligibility and pre-determination data-flow review.
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Not legal advice. Landfall maps regulatory obligations to engineering work for planning purposes. Its verdicts are not legal advice and create no attorney-client relationship — verify with qualified counsel before relying on them.