The enforcement trend is clear. Epic Games: $275 million. Microsoft (Xbox): $20 million. YouTube: $170 million. These are the FTC's signal that COPPA enforcement is no longer theoretical. If your platform has users (or could have users) under 13 — a game, a forum, an educational tool, a community app — COPPA applies to you. "We don't target kids" is not a defense once you have actual knowledge of under-13 users. In 2026, between state-level laws proliferating and the FTC's increased scrutiny of the gaming sector specifically, the "too small to worry about it" era is over. This post covers what COPPA actually requires and how to implement it as engineering infrastructure — not legal theory, but the specific systems you need to build. What COPPA actually covers COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C.…