The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) is a United States federal law, located at 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506 (Pub.L. 105–277, 112 Stat. 2681-728, enacted October 21, 1998)19 years ago . While children under 13 can legally give out personal information with their parents' permission, many websites – particularly social media sites — disallow underage children from using their services altogether due to the cost and work involved in the complying with the law.