Nintendo requires verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13, and provides parents with tools to review, modify, or delete their child's data.
This analysis describes what Nintendo'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 creates a dual framework: it restricts general data collection from children pending parental authorization while carving out an exception permitting collection of technical identifiers required for service operation. This operational structure addresses COPPA compliance requirements while maintaining necessary infrastructure functionality.
Nintendo now explicitly discloses that it collects persistent identifiers (IP addresses, device IDs) from child users for operational, security, fraud prevention, and service improvement purposes, and states that contractual restrictions limit how service providers can use this data. Parents gain enhanced transparency by being able to view a named list of third-party games and applications authorized to access their child's account, rather than just managing access through settings. The policy also clarifies that location information may be used for check-ins at Nintendo locations and events in addition to location-based games. You can review and manage which third-party apps have access to your child's account through your Nintendo Account profile settings.
View change record →Nintendo now discloses that it uses location data not only for location-based games and friend connections, but also to enable check-ins at specific events and Nintendo locations, which is a new explicit use case. The policy now details how child user data including persistent identifiers like IP addresses and device IDs are collected and retained, with commitments to delete or de-identify data based on sensitivity and account activity. Parents can now see which third-party apps have been authorized to access their child's account before deciding whether to allow continued access, giving more visibility into connected applications.
View change record →The revised policy simplifies how Nintendo describes data retention, now stating information is retained only as long as reasonably necessary in accordance with applicable law, without prior detail about sensitivity-based retention practices. For child users, the policy no longer explicitly lists persistent identifiers (IP addresses, device identifiers) that Nintendo and service providers collect, removing specific disclosure language that previously detailed collection purposes for child accounts. The policy now indicates it collects error information from both users and devices, broadening the prior language focused on device errors only. The privacy certification body changed from CARU to ESRB, meaning independent audits and enforcement are now administered by the Entertainment Software Rating Board rather than the Children's Advertising Review Unit.
View change record →Parents have the right to review, limit, or delete their child's personal data held by Nintendo, and Nintendo cannot collect or share children's data without parental approval.
How other platforms handle this
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 ...
Customer will not, and will not permit any other person (including any End User) to: ... (c) include any personal information of children under 13 or the applicable age of digital consent as Customer Data or allow minors to use the Mistral AI Products without legally adequate consent from their pare...
By creating a Microsoft account or using the Services, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms and represent that you have either reached the age of "majority" where you live or your parent or legal guardian agrees to be bound by these Terms on your behalf. If you are the parent or legal gua...
Monitoring
Nintendo has changed this document before.
Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 10 platforms.
"We do not knowingly collect, use or share information from children under a certain age without parental consent or as permitted by law (e.g., a "child" is under the age of 13 in the United States, under the age of 14 in Quebec, etc.). However, please note that we collect, and we permit our service providers to collect, persistent identifiers, such as IP addresses, device identifiers and other unique identifiers from such child users, solely for purposes necessary to support the internal operations of our services.— Excerpt from Nintendo's Nintendo Privacy Policy
This provision engages COPPA (15 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq.) and FTC enforcement authority. Non-compliance with parental consent requirements and data minimization obligations for minors represents significant regulatory exposure, including FTC enforcement action and civil penalties.
Full compliance analysis
Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
Free: track 1 platform + weekly digest. Watcher: 10 platforms + same-day alerts. No credit card required.
Professional Governance Intelligence
Need to monitor specific governance provisions?
Professional includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.
Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.
The provision creates a dual framework: it restricts general data collection from children pending parental authorization while carving out an exception permitting collection of technical identifiers required for service operation. This operational structure addresses COPPA compliance requirements while maintaining necessary infrastructure functionality.
Parents have the right to review, limit, or delete their child's personal data held by Nintendo, and Nintendo cannot collect or share children's data without parental approval.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Nintendo.