Duolingo's main service is not for children under 13, and the company states it does not knowingly collect personal information from under-13 users. Parents who want to set up accounts for younger children are directed to a separate product called Duolingo ABC.
This analysis describes what Duolingo's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision operationalizes Duolingo's compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which imposes specific requirements on online services regarding data collection from children under 13. The clause establishes the mechanism through which the company collects parental consent and documents the distinction between unauthorized child accounts and authorized accounts created through the designated parental account option.
Interpretive note: The document does not describe the specific technical age-verification mechanisms in place, and the adequacy of stated measures for COPPA compliance depends on operational implementation not fully described in this document.
Parents whose children under 13 have created Duolingo accounts on the main platform should contact privacy@duolingo.com, as the terms state the platform does not knowingly collect personal information from under-13 users and accounts can be removed.
How other platforms handle this
Our Services are not directed to children under 13. If you learn that anyone younger than 13 has unlawfully provided us with personal data, please contact us at privacy@medium.com.
The Service is intended for general audiences and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information without your cons...
To access and use the Services, you must be at least the age of majority in the state, province, or territory where you live or at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 13, you may not use the Services and you should not be visiting the Sites or using the Services.
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"The Services are not directed to children under 13. If you learn that your child under 13 has created an account on Duolingo, please contact us at privacy@duolingo.com. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. Parents or guardians can create a Duolingo account for their child under 13 via Duolingo ABC.— Excerpt from Duolingo's Duolingo Terms of Service
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: The provision directly implicates COPPA, which is enforced by the FTC and requires verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. The provision also engages state-level children's privacy laws, including California's Age-Appropriate Design Code (AB 2273) and similar legislation in other states, which may impose additional obligations. For EEA users, GDPR Article 8 sets the age of digital consent at 16 (or lower if member states have set a minimum of 13), which may require additional consent mechanisms for teenage users. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The terms state that Duolingo does not knowingly collect personal information from under-13 users and provides a contact for parents, but the document does not detail the specific technical or procedural age-verification mechanisms in place, which is a standard area of FTC scrutiny in COPPA enforcement. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: US federal COPPA obligations apply to all users under 13 regardless of geography. California's Age-Appropriate Design Code imposes additional requirements for minors under 18. GDPR member states have varying age of digital consent thresholds. UK Children's Code (Age Appropriate Design Code) applies to UK users under 18. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Educational institutions and organizations deploying Duolingo for students should assess whether their student population includes under-13 users and evaluate whether COPPA-compliant consent mechanisms have been implemented. FERPA considerations may also apply for school-managed deployments. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams should verify that the age-gating mechanism on the main platform is technically implemented and auditable, and that the Duolingo ABC product has appropriate COPPA-compliant parental consent mechanisms. The FTC has brought enforcement actions against platforms with inadequate COPPA age-verification and parental consent processes.
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This provision operationalizes Duolingo's compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which imposes specific requirements on online services regarding data collection from children under 13. The clause establishes the mechanism through which the company collects parental consent and documents the distinction between unauthorized child accounts and authorized accounts created through the designated parental account option.
Parents whose children under 13 have created Duolingo accounts on the main platform should contact privacy@duolingo.com, as the terms state the platform does not knowingly collect personal information from under-13 users and accounts can be removed.
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