Meta's platforms require users to be at least 13 years old, and Meta claims it does not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 — though enforcement of this age restriction has been widely criticized.
This analysis describes what Meta Ads'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
The provision establishes compliance mechanisms with children's privacy regulations by implementing age-gating requirements at account creation and establishing data deletion procedures for inadvertently collected information from users under 13. This creates operational obligations for Meta regarding verification and retention of minor users' data.
The updated Privacy Policy no longer explicitly directs US residents to the United States Regional Privacy Notice, which previously provided details about consumer privacy rights available under state laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act and similar regulations. This removal does not eliminate those rights themselves, but it makes the Privacy Policy less clear about where consumers can find information on how to exercise those rights. Consumers can still locate the Regional Privacy Notice through Meta's website or by searching for it directly, but the removal reduces the accessibility and prominence of that guidance within the primary policy document.
View change record →If your child under 13 has a Facebook or Instagram account, Meta is legally obligated to delete their data — but the platform has been criticized for inadequate age verification, meaning underage users' data may have been collected and processed in violation of COPPA.
How other platforms handle this
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"Our Products are not directed to children. You must be at least 13 years old to create an account on Facebook or 13 years old to create a general account on Instagram, though for certain parts of Instagram, you must be at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we've collected personal information from a child under 13, we take steps to delete that information as quickly as possible.— Excerpt from Meta Ads's Meta Privacy Policy
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: Children's privacy is governed by COPPA (15 U.S.C. §6501 et seq.; 16 C.F.R. Part 312), enforced by the FTC, which requires verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. GDPR Art. 8 requires member state-defined age thresholds (typically 13-16) and parental consent below that threshold, enforced by EU/EEA DPAs. The UK Age Appropriate Design Code (Children's Code) imposes heightened data minimization and default privacy requirements for services likely to be accessed by under-18s, enforced by the ICO. The proposed US Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and COPPA 2.0 would raise the age threshold to 16 if enacted.
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ConductAtlas detected a major restructuring of Meta’s privacy policy that removed detailed consumer rights disclosures and relocated them to separate documents.
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The provision establishes compliance mechanisms with children's privacy regulations by implementing age-gating requirements at account creation and establishing data deletion procedures for inadvertently collected information from users under 13. This creates operational obligations for Meta regarding verification and retention of minor users' data.
If your child under 13 has a Facebook or Instagram account, Meta is legally obligated to delete their data — but the platform has been criticized for inadequate age verification, meaning underage users' data may have been collected and processed in violation of COPPA.
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