COPPA and Family Memory Apps

What COPPA means for parents

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a U.S. rule about collecting personal information from children under 13. It is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. For parents choosing a place to store voice messages, letters, and photos for a child, COPPA is a practical checklist — not a buzzword.

If a product markets itself for families, ask how it treats data about children even when an adult creates the account.

Questions to ask any family memory app

Use these questions before you pour years of recordings into a vendor:

• Who is the account holder — parent or child?
• Is memory content sold, used for ads, or used to train AI models?
• Can you export files in standard formats (for example MP4, JPG, PDF, TXT)?
• Where is data stored, and who can access it inside the company?
• Is there a clear children's privacy notice, not only a general privacy policy?

How EverLetter approaches this

EverLetter is built as an adults-only platform: parents start private child timelines. We do not sell Memory Capsule content, use it for advertising, or train AI models on family recordings. Encryption in transit and at rest, U.S. storage via Supabase, and export in standard formats are part of the Protect pillar.

This answer card is educational. For binding details, read the Children's Privacy notice and Privacy Policy.

Privacy and digital legacy for children

A digital legacy plan for children is incomplete without privacy. Scheduled letters and voice messages only help if the archive stays family-only and exportable. Pair this overview with Digital legacy for children and Digital time capsule for kids when you are ready to start.

Frequently asked questions

Does COPPA apply to family memory apps?

If a service collects personal information from children under 13 in the United States, COPPA generally applies. Many family apps are designed so parents create and manage accounts on behalf of children — you should still read how the service handles consent, retention, and third parties.

What should parents ask before storing a child's voice or photos?

Ask whether content is sold or used for advertising, whether it trains AI models, where data is stored, who can access it, and how you export or delete it. Prefer clear written policies over marketing claims.

Is EverLetter for children to sign up themselves?

No. EverLetter is an adults-only platform. Parents start child timelines on behalf of children. The child is the recipient of messages, not an independent account holder under 13.

Where can I read EverLetter's children's privacy details?

See the Children's Privacy (COPPA) notice and the Privacy Policy on everletter.family. Those pages are the source of truth for legal practices; this guide is a plain-language overview.