For players under 13 in the US, Minecraft requires verifiable parental consent before collecting personal data, in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
This analysis describes what Minecraft'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
Minecraft is widely played by children, and COPPA creates specific legal obligations around what data can be collected from minors and how parents must be notified and empowered to control it.
Interpretive note: The specific COPPA consent mechanism language could not be directly quoted due to document truncation; the provision is inferred from Minecraft's known regulatory obligations and the document's general privacy framework.
Parents of children under 13 who play Minecraft must provide verifiable consent for data collection, and children's accounts are subject to restrictions on behavioral advertising and certain data sharing practices that do not apply to adult accounts.
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YOU MUST BE AND HEREBY AFFIRM THAT YOU ARE AN ADULT OF THE LEGAL AGE OF MAJORITY IN YOUR COUNTRY OR STATE OF RESIDENCE. If you are under the legal age of majority, your parent or legal guardian must consent to this agreement.
The Service is not directed to children under the age of 16. If you are under the age of 16, you may only use the Service with the involvement and consent of a parent or guardian. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information without your...
The Service is not directed to children under the age of 13. If you are under 13 years of age, please do not use or access the Service at any time or in any manner. If we learn that personally identifiable information has been collected on the Service from persons under 13 years of age and without v...
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(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: COPPA, enforced by the FTC, requires verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13 in the US. The EU's GDPR and the UK's Children's Code (Age Appropriate Design Code) impose similar or stricter requirements for users under 13 (GDPR) or under 18 (UK Children's Code). The FTC has historically pursued enforcement actions against gaming platforms that failed to implement adequate COPPA controls. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. Minecraft's user base includes a substantial number of players under 13, making COPPA the single highest-exposure regulatory provision for the platform in the US. Behavioral advertising directed at child accounts without verifiable parental consent would constitute a material COPPA violation. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: US users under 13 trigger federal COPPA obligations. EU users under 13 trigger GDPR restrictions on consent and data processing. UK users under 18 may be covered by the Age Appropriate Design Code. State-level laws in states such as Connecticut and Colorado may also impose additional obligations for minor users. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Any third-party analytics or advertising vendor receiving data from child Minecraft accounts must be contractually prohibited from using that data for behavioral advertising. Vendor contracts should be audited for child data restrictions. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should audit the parental consent flow for new child account creation across all Minecraft platforms, verify that child accounts are technically segregated from advertising data flows, and confirm that the Microsoft Family Safety system's parental controls are fully functional and clearly communicated to parents.
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Minecraft is widely played by children, and COPPA creates specific legal obligations around what data can be collected from minors and how parents must be notified and empowered to control it.
Parents of children under 13 who play Minecraft must provide verifiable consent for data collection, and children's accounts are subject to restrictions on behavioral advertising and certain data sharing practices that do not apply to adult accounts.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Minecraft.