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The Federal Trade Commission recently proposed several updates
to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998
(COPPA).
COPPA currently provides that operators of websites and other
online services that collect personal information online about
children under 13, or whose websites or services are directed at
children under 13, must:
post a clear and comprehensive privacy policy on their website
or service describing their information practices for
children's personal information;
provide direct notice to parents and obtain verifiable parental
consent before collecting personal information from children;
give parents the choice of consenting to the operator's
collection and internal use of a child's information, but
prohibiting the operator from disclosing that information to third
parties;
provide parents access to their child's personal
information to review and/or delete it;
give parents the opportunity to prevent further use or online
collection of a child's personal information; and
maintain the confidentiality, security, and integrity of
information they collect from children.
The proposed updates to COPPA are designed to address challenges
created by technology advancement since COPPA was enacted in 1998
– Twitter, Facebook, and the iPhone and other smart phones
and mobile devices did not exist in 1998.
What would the proposed updates to COPPA mean for
website and online services?
COPPA's regulations would extend to mobile devices;
websites that integrate features such as a Facebook login,
advertising networks, and downloadable software kits
("plug-ins") would need to get verifiable parental
consent before collecting personal information from children under
13;
behavioral advertising tracking cookies and geo-location
information would be added to the definition of personal
information that marketers and website operators must get
verifiable parental consent to collect; and
COPPA would allow a website that attracts both children and
adults to apply privacy protections only to those who say they are
under 13 (currently, such websites must treat all users as under
13).
The proposed updates to COPPA have been in the making for
several years. In September 2010, the FTC solicited public comments
on how COPPA might be improved. In 2011, the FTC released its
recommendations. It then solicited two additional rounds of
comments on its recommendations. The FTC will make final
recommendations by the end of the year.
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guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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The 2010 theft of an unencrypted laptop containing confidential health care information made front-page news in 2013, not because a huge number of patients were affected, but for the exact opposite reason.
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