Duolingo says it does not knowingly collect data from children under 13 without parental consent, but parents must actively contact Duolingo if they believe their child's data was collected improperly.
Parents of children under 13 who use Duolingo should be aware that the platform collects usage data, voice recordings, and performance data, and should verify that proper parental consent was obtained before their child began using the service.
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Compare across platforms →Given Duolingo's large user base of younger learners and its children's app Duolingo ABC, the adequacy of its parental consent mechanisms for under-13 users is a significant compliance and child safety issue.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision directly engages COPPA (15 U.S.C. §6501 et seq.) and the FTC's COPPA Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 312), which requires verifiable parental consent prior to collecting personal information from children under 13, including voice recordings, usage data, and persistent identifiers. The FTC is the primary enforcement authority. FERPA (20 U.S.C. §1232g) may be engaged where Duolingo for Schools collects student data. State-level children's privacy laws including the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (AB 2273) and New York's Child Data Protection Act create additional compliance layers.
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