US consumer regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has
produced the report on the nine-year-old law and has found that
though it has been largely successful, children still face dangers
online.
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed
in 1998 to protect children's privacy. It orders that websites
directed at children or those which are aware that they are
collecting information from children follow certain procedures.
They must clearly state their privacy policies, obtain parental
consent before gathering information from children, allow parents
to review and delete children's personal information and establish
procedures to ensure the security of children's information.
The FCC was required to pass its own rule closely mirroring the
Act, and it has just published a review of the operation of
both.
"No changes to the Act or Rule are necessary at this time," it
found. "The Act and the Rule have been effective in helping to
protect the privacy and safety of young children online."
The review did find, though, that many general interest websites
and new phenomena such as social networking could prove too much of
a challenge to the current law.
"There is concern that younger children are migrating to more
general audience websites, such as social networking sites, that
are not intended for their use but nonetheless attract their
presence," it said. "There is potential for age falsification on
general audience websites, as well as liability under COPPA, should
these sites obtain actual knowledge that they are collecting,
using, or disclosing personal information from children
online."
"The proliferation of general audience websites that may appeal
to younger audiences, highlights the need for supplemental
solutions, such as age verification technologies, that can provide
additional measures of security for children as they increasingly
engage in online activities," it said.
"Education and enforcement challenges may present themselves as,
for example, the means by which children access the internet
increasingly move from stand-alone computers to mobile devices,"
said the report
The FTC has prosecuted 12 cases under COPPA and has taken $1.8
million in civil penalties from organisations such as confectioner
Hershey and social networking site Xanga.com.
Age verification technology could provide two-fold benefits for
children. It could, at least in theory, protect the online spaces
and services in which they play and participate by keeping out
people who are inappropriately old. It could also help to keep
children out of websites which are not suitable for children, which
would be welcomed by parents.
The online publishing industry will watch the US Government's
actions on age verification closely. While social networking sites
may welcome the legal certainty that would come with compulsory age
identification, they may baulk at Government control of a vast and
growing market. MySpace alone, the market leader, has around 80
million members.
