THE CHILDREN'S ONLINE
PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA", 15 U.S.C. 6501
et seq.), became effective on April 21, 2000 and applies to the online
collection of personal information from children under age 13.
The new rules set forth a website operator's obligations with regard to its privacy policy. The rules also address when and how a website operator must seek verifiable consent from a parent as well as the operator's responsibilities with regard to protecting children's privacy and safety online.
The following sets forth a brief overview of the act's provisions. The following should not be construed as a complete statement of COPPA's provisions. Please contact one of our attorneys for additional information about the act's specific provisions, applicability and compliance measures.
Who
Must Comply with COPPA?
What Compliance Measures are Required?
Where Can I Find More Information?
1.Commercial Web
Site Operators
If you operate a commercial website or an online service directed to children
under 13 that collects personal information from children or if you operate
a general audience website and have actual knowledge that you are collecting
personal information from children, you must comply with the Children's
Online Privacy Protection Act.
2. Meaning of "Directed
to Children"
To determine whether a website is directed to children, the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) considers several factors, including the subject matter;
visual or audio content; the age of models on the site; language; whether
advertising on the Web site is directed to children; information regarding
the age of the actual or intended audience; and whether a site uses animated
characters or other child-oriented features.
3. Web Site "Operator"
To determine whether an entity is an "operator" with respect to information
collected at a site, the FTC will consider who owns and controls the information;
who pays for the collection and maintenance of the information; what the
pre-existing contractual relationships are in connection with the information;
and what role the website plays in collecting or maintaining the information.
4. Types of Information
Covered
COPPA and the Rule apply to individually identifiable information about
a child that is collected online, such as the child's full name, home
address, email address, telephone number or any other information that
would allow someone to identify or contact the child. The Act and Rule
also cover other types of information -- for example, hobbies, interests
and information collected through cookies or other types of tracking mechanisms
-- when they are tied to individually identifiable information.
1. Privacy Notice
An operator must post a clear and prominent link to a notice of its information
practices on the home page of its website or online service and at each
area where it collects personal information from children. The notice
must be clearly written and understandable; it should not include any
unrelated or confusing materials.
2. Direct Notice
to Parents
The operator must also provide direct notice to any parent whose child
interfaces with the website in a manner that is governed by COPPA.
3. Verifiable Parental
Consent
Before collecting, using or disclosing personal information from a child,
an operator must obtain verifiable parental consent from the child's parent.
This means an operator must make reasonable efforts (taking into consideration
available technology) to ensure that before personal information is collected
from a child, a parent of the child receives notice of the operator's
information practices and consents to those practices.
4. Exceptions
The regulations include several exceptions that allow operators to collect
a child's email address without getting the parent's consent in advance.
These exceptions cover many popular online activities for kids, including
contests, online newsletters, homework help and electronic postcards.
5. Revoking &
Deleting
At any time, a parent may revoke his/her consent, refuse to allow an operator
to further use or collect a child's personal information, and direct the
operator to delete the information.
For more information about COPPA please contact one of the attorneys in our transactions group.
The Federal Trade Commission website at www.ftc.gov is a good resource. You can also call the FTC's Consumer Response Center toll-free at 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357), or write Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580. On the FTC site, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the "search" feature, look up "Children's Online Privacy Protection Act" and you will be directed to press releases and additional information related to COPPA.
The FTC maintains
pages on its web site devoted to COPPA and children's online issues generally
at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.htm
and www.ftc.gov/kidzprivacy.
Both are good resources for information related to COPPA.
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