The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has been law in the United States since 2000. The intent of the law is to protect the privacy and the personal information of children. In general, this is the law used by social media and other companies that restrict access to their platforms to individuals under 13 years of age. The law does allow online businesses to collect data about individuals younger than 13, it does specify that parental permission must be obtained prior to the data collection.
Because of COPPA, most schools have procedures for identifying the online platforms that can be used by teachers. Especially for those students who are under 13. A teacher may find that are not allowed to have students logging on to and using and interesting new tool until the terms of service have been reviewed and school leaders conclude it is reasonable to allow access.