Buried in Meta’s $18B settlement is a legal pass on kids’ data

Meta’s settlement with 29 states includes permission to retain certain data from children under 13 for training and testing age-detection models. The provision exposes a privacy trade-off embedded in a deal otherwise aimed at resolving child-safety and data-handling concerns.

The carveout shows how regulators may accept limited use of sensitive youth data when it supports safety tools, even as they pressure platforms over children’s privacy. It also signals that AI-based compliance systems could become a common justification for retaining data that would otherwise face stricter limits.