Ed-Tech · Ed-tech (K-12 classroom platform, defunct) · Regulatory action + Data breach
Edmodo
Headline
The FTC and DOJ sued Edmodo in May 2023 for collecting children's names, emails, birth dates, phone numbers and persistent identifiers and using them for advertising without parental consent.
Not independently verified. Verification status: Unverified - heuristic first draft. Publish state: draft unverified.
The FTC and DOJ sued Edmodo in May 2023 for collecting children's names, emails, birth dates, phone numbers and persistent identifiers and using them for advertising without parental consent. Edmodo's terms of service also told teachers and schools they were 'solely' responsible for COPPA compliance. The court-signed order (Aug. 28, 2023) imposed a $6 million civil penalty, suspended because Edmodo could not pay, and was the first FTC order to bar an ed-tech company from pushing COPPA compliance onto schools. It also required deletion of models or algorithms built on unlawfully collected children's data. The platform had shut down in the U.S. in September 2022, so this order shapes how school vendors write their terms more than it protects former users.
- Severity
- Evidence tierUnassigned
- Claims confirmed
- Last verified2026-10-16
Primary source. www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ftc-says-ed-tech-provider-edmodo-unlawfully-used-childrens-personal-information-advertising — Unverified - heuristic first draft.
Terms
Arbitration
Not applicable (service shut down Sept. 2022)
Data sharing
FTC-alleged: children's personal data used for contextual and behavioral advertising without verifiable parental consent; indefinite retention until 2020. 2017 breach: ~77M accounts (usernames, emails, hashed passwords) per Wikipedia.
Fees and billing
None identified.
Contacts
Privacy contact. Not recorded.
Legal notice. Not applicable (U.S. operations suspended)
Mailing address. Not recorded.
Evidence
No claims have been itemized for this row yet.
Sources
| Source | Claim | Tier | Status | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTC press release · 2023-05-22 www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ftc-says-ed-tech-provider-edmodo-unlawfully-used-childrens-personal-information-advertising | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “$6 million monetary penalty, which will be suspended due to the company's inability to pay” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| FTC case page · 2023-08-28 www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/202-3129-edmodo-llc-us-v | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Civil Penalty Judgment” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| Encyclopedia · 2026-10-16 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmodo | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “77 million users' data were breached, including usernames, hashed passwords and email addresses” Quote basis: not recorded. |
Source vault
Link status: Candidate - not yet fetched
| Document | Last fetch | |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy policy No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Terms of service No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Website No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | — |
| Primary source https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ftc-says-ed-tech-provider-edmodo-unlawfully-used-childrens-personal-information-advertising Verification: Unverified - heuristic first draft | Not fetched yet | — |
Enforcement
| Action | Amount | Link |
|---|---|---|
| United States v. Edmodo, LLC Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Justice, 2023 United States v. Edmodo, LLC (N.D. Cal. filed May 22, 2023) (civil action number not verified this pass). | $6M | proposed |
Links are proposed matches, not yet reviewed.
State statute
Headquarters on file: CA. Provisions of CCPA/CPRA on file:
| Provision | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Right to Deletion Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.105 | hard | source |
| Right to Correction Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.106 | hard | source |
| Right to Know / Access Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.110 | hard | source |
| Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.121; Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, § 7027 | hard | source |
| Right to Data Portability Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.130(a)(3)(B)(iii) | hard | source |
| Privacy Policy / Privacy Notice Requirements Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.130(a)(5); Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, § 7011 | hard | source |
| Sensitive Personal Information — Categories Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.140(ae) | hard | source |
| Service Provider and Contractor Contract Requirements Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.140(ag); Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, § 7051 | hard | source |
| Applicability Threshold (2025 CPI-Adjusted) Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.140(d) | threshold | source |
| Privacy Risk Assessment — Mandatory for High-Risk Processing (Eff. Jan. 1, 2026) Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.185(a)(15); Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, §§ 7150-7157 | hard | source |
| Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.120, 1798.135 | hard | source |
| Sale vs. Sharing Distinction Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.140(ad), 1798.140(ah) | hard | source |
| Enforcement — CPPA and AG; Civil Penalties (2025 CPI-Adjusted) Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.155, 1798.199.90; Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17206 | hard | source |
| Notice at Collection Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, § 7012 | hard | source |
| Cybersecurity Audit — Annual Independent Audit Requirement (Eff. Jan. 1, 2026) Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, §§ 7120-7124 | hard | source |
| Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) — Notice, Opt-Out, and Access Rights Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, §§ 7200-7222; Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.185(a)(16) | hard | source |