Do you have a citation for that? The legislation doesn't seem to make the distinction[1]. If you can provide evidence for the 2 points you made that would be awesome. Thanks!
It's right there at the start of the law you cite in A.1.:
It is unlawful for an operator of a website or
*online service directed to children*, or any operator
that has *actual knowledge that it is collecting
personal information from a child*, to collect personal
information from a child in a manner that violates the
regulations prescribed under subsection (b) of this section.
So either:
* service directed to children (LEGO, Disney etc)
* actual knowledge that it is collecting information from a child (birthdate, age etc)
My understanding was from internal legal guidance at a previous company I consulted for but I haven't worked on COPPA projects for a few years so I don't know if there have been any major cases.
In any event Path specifically asked for birthdates and then allowed children to carry on and use the service with no changes which is a violation that should have been spotted by anyone with some understanding of COPPA.
* service directed to children (LEGO, Disney etc) * actual knowledge that it is collecting information from a child (birthdate, age etc)
My understanding was from internal legal guidance at a previous company I consulted for but I haven't worked on COPPA projects for a few years so I don't know if there have been any major cases.
In any event Path specifically asked for birthdates and then allowed children to carry on and use the service with no changes which is a violation that should have been spotted by anyone with some understanding of COPPA.