For Children’s Online Privacy
Protection Act (COPPA)
Patricia
Section 06
What is COPPA?
 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998
 TITLE XIII-CHILDREN'S ONLINE PRIVACY PRSEC. 1302.
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DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) CHILD.—The term "child" means an individual under the age of 13.
(2) OPERATOR.—The term "operator"—
(A) means any person who operates a website located on the Internet
or an online service and who collects or maintains personal
information from or about the users of or visitors to such website or
online service, or on whose behalf such information is collected or
maintained, where such website or online service is operated for
commercial purposes, including any person offering products or
services for sale through that website or online service, involving
commerce—
History
 During the 1990’s, the internet became a major source, sales, and
distribution of products and services. A growing segment of users of
these services are children
 The interactive nature of the Internet enabled marketers to collect
personal information from children through their registration to chat
rooms and discussion boards, to track behavior of web surfers through
advertisements, and to promise gifts in exchange for personal
information
 CNN, on December 14, 1995, reported that look up services could be
used to locate children
 After the 1995 news reports, Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission. The EPIC letter
urged an investigation of the R.R. Donnelley marketing company,
which was reportedly selling children's personal information
History
 EPIC testified in Congress in favor of
privacy protections for children in
September 1996
 In response to growing public interest
in children's privacy, in March 1998
the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC")
presented the Congress with a report
addressing the lack of regulation and
protection of children's information
online.
 In July 1998, Senators Richard Bryan
(D-NV) and John McCain (R-AZ)
introduced 105 S. 2326, titled "The
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
of 1998
History Con’t
 The Act took effect in April 2000.
 The Act was passed in response to a growing awareness
of Internet marketing techniques that targeted children and
collected their personal information from websites without
any parental notification.
 The Act applies to commercial websites and online
services that are directed at children
How to comply with law
 Applies to the online collection of personal information from children
under 13
 An operator must notify a parent that it wishes to collect personal
information from the child; that the parent's consent is required for the
collection, use and disclosure of the information; and how the parent
can provide consent
 The notice to parents must be written clearly and understandably, and
must not contain any unrelated or confusing information.
 An operator may use any one of a number of methods to notify a
parent, including sending an email message to the parent or a notice
by postal mail.
Reasons to be FOR COPPA
• Keep children under 13 safe
from marketers and especially
predators
• Parents will be able to monitor
their children’s online behavior
• Help reduce cyberbullying
• General privacy protection
Reasons for COPPA to become more strict
 It is very easy for children under the
age of 13 to get access to sites that
ban children under the age of 13
http://journalistsresource.org/studies/internet/p
arents-children-facebook-privacy-age
 For example, More than three-quarters
(76%) of parents surveyed reported that
their child joined Facebook when she
was younger than 13, the minimum age
in the site’s terms of service.
 Only 53% of parents said they were
aware that Facebook has a minimum
signup age; 35% of these parents believe
that the minimum age is a site
recommendation (not a condition of site
use), or thought the signup age was 16
or 18, and not 13.
COPPA Violations
Playdom, Inc., is an online game company owned by
Disney paid $3 million dollars to settle a COPPA
violation charge
 collected and disclosed personal info of children under the
age of 13 without parents consent
 operated 20 “virtual world” gaming websites and when
children registered on the websites, they collected children’s
personal information, like their ages and email addresses
 failed to provide sufficient notice on their websites of what
information they collected from children and how they used
and disclosed such information.
A Facebook Privacy Invasion
Story
 In Indonesia, a young girl on facebook accepted a
friend request that she would later regret. The request
was from a predator, unknowingly to her. After a few
exchanges of text messages, he convinced her to
meet him at a local mall. She got into the car with him
and he took her far out of town. He locked her in a
small room with other young girls, drugged her and
raped her and told her she would soon be shipped to
a brothel.
 She eventually was found a month later at a bus
station
Parents role to ensure privacy
protection
 Keep an eye on what children do online
 Read privacy policy statements
 Decide if you, the parent is going to give consent
 Set family rules for online computer use
Learn about the
online services
your child uses
11
Percentage of children & Adolescents age 5-17
who use computers and the
Internet
12
Works Cited
 United States . Federal Trade Commission. What is COPPA?. 2012. Print.
<http://www.coppa.org
 United States . Federal Trade Commission. Operators of Online "Virtual Worlds" to
Pay $3 Million to Settle FTC Charges That They Illegally Collected and Disclosed
Children's Personal Information. 2011. Print.
<http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/05/playdom.shtm>.
 Weigel, Margaret. "Journalist's Resource." Journalist's Resource. (2011): n. page.
Print. <http://journalistsresource.org/studies/internet/parents-children-facebookprivacy-age>.
 Margie, Mason. "Facebook used to kidnap, traffic Indonesian girls ." USA Today 29
10 2012, n. pag. Print.
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/29/facebook-used-to-kidnaptraffic-indonesian-girls/1665321/>.
 United States . Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Children’s Online Privacy: A Resource
Guide for Parents. 2012. Print. <https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs21-children.htm>.