This book offers a clear and comprehensive comparative examination of how two of the leading regulatory models, the European Union and the United States, protect children’s personal data and privacy online, focusing on two key frameworks: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It traces their legal foundations, historical evolution, regulatory context, and real-world impact, showing how each system addresses the complex challenge of safeguarding children in digital environments.

Through accessible analysis, the book explores key issues including parental consent, age thresholds, and the effectiveness of age-verification and assurance mechanisms. The roles, responsibilities, and rights of parents, alongside the duties of data controllers, are examined in detail. It also highlights the gap between legal requirements and their practical enforcement, supported by case law and real-world examples, including social media practices such as child influencers and parental sharing. Taken together, these analyses examine whether current approaches adequately protect children’s best interests in digital environments.

Moving beyond critique, the book calls for a shift toward more child-centered regulatory approaches. It addresses emerging challenges, particularly those driven by rapid advances in AI, and argues for integrating privacy and safety directly into digital design and system architecture, rather than relying heavily on parental oversight. In this respect, it emphasizes that effective protection of children’s privacy and personal data requires a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach.

This timely and insightful work is essential reading for legal professionals, academics, policymakers, and technology and industry practitioners, as well as all those concerned with the future of children’s rights in the digital age.

Aslı Alkış Tümtürk completed her law degree at Marmara University in Istanbul, one of Turkey’s most prestigious and internationally recognized institutions, graduating with honours in 2015. Following her graduation and completion of her legal internship, she was admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association and obtained her lawyer’s licence in 2016.

She subsequently pursued a Master’s degree (LL.M.) in International and European Trade and Investment Law at the University of Szeged, graduating as a top student in 2018. She was later awarded the Stipendium Hungaricum government scholarship, under which she completed her PhD at the Institute of Comparative Law at the University of Szeged in 2024, receiving the degree summa cum laude. Her doctoral research focused on children’s privacy and data protection law.

She has also published in several prestigious academic journals and has presented multiple papers on various topics in data protection and privacy law at academic conferences, both domestically and internationally. Her work includes publications in leading journals such as The Journal of Comparative Law, engaging with debates on children’s online consent and legal transplants in the digital era.

Alongside her academic achievements, she has built substantial industry experience. She worked at Vodafone VOIS as a Privacy Consultant for four years before joining SAP SuccessFactors, where she currently serves as a Senior Privacy, Data Protection & Regulatory Compliance Counsel, applying her academic expertise to real-world data protection and regulatory challenges throughout her professional career.