海角大神

The US Federal Trade Commission鈥檚 revisions to the COPPA Rule announced Dec. 19 are aimed at syncing up a rule mandated by a 1998 law with today鈥檚 technology and with 鈥渢he way children use the Internet, mobile devices and social networking,鈥� the聽.

For example, the personal information that services cannot collect from children under 13 without parental consent now includes photos, videos and geolocation information; the FTC will have a 鈥渟treamlined, voluntary and transparent鈥� process for approval of new ways children鈥檚 sites can obtain parental consent; and the COPPA Rule now rules out the use of 鈥減ersistent identifiers鈥� like cookies that would allow businesses to send kids behavioral ads based on their online activities.

In addition to 鈥減ersonal information,鈥� the FTC also updated a number of other terms. For example, 鈥渙perator鈥� now means a kids鈥� site or service that integrates third-party services 鈥渟uch as plug-ins or advertising networks鈥� that collect personal information from its visitors 鈥� not app stores like Apple鈥檚 or Google Play that just offer children鈥檚 apps. So an 鈥渙perator鈥� like Facebook or Apple鈥檚 App Store 鈥渨ill only be responsible if they have 鈥榓ctual knowledge鈥� that an 鈥� app is not complying,鈥� the聽.

Also, 鈥渃ollection of personal information鈥� no longer includes information children themselves post as a form of participation in 鈥渋nteractive communities鈥� (e.g. online games) 鈥� sites and services don鈥檛 have to obtain parental consent as long as they 鈥渢ake reasonable measures to delete all or virtually all children鈥檚 personal information before it is made public.鈥�

Collaborative regulatory power needed

From that last point, you can see that sites and services will be struggling for some time to understand the exact meaning of some of these revisions and how they apply to the user-driven content on their services. Both the confusion and some of the updates could either chill innovation (by increasing startup costs) or help shutter small businesses serving children.

For example, in its coverage of the revisions, the聽聽cited the view of a developer of children鈥檚 book apps. The developer 鈥渇ears heavy legal costs that she estimates could be as high as $10,000 [because] she would like to collect information about children to personalize her app so that users can create logs and reading goals.鈥�

This indicates confusion because the FTC states that 鈥渘o parental notice and consent is required when an operator collects a persistent identifier for the sole purpose of supporting 鈥� internal operations.鈥� Collecting information for the sole purpose of enhancing a user鈥檚 experience 鈥� by allowing them to create 鈥渞eading goals鈥� in a book app 鈥� would probably be seen by the FTC as perfectly compliant, as an 鈥渋nternal operation.鈥�

So as I watched the new rule鈥檚 unveiling live-streamed from Capitol Hill, I noted two things:

• The pressure on regulators to keep up with new media and technologies and鈥�
• A lack of understanding of how the 鈥渦ser-driven鈥� aspect of new media and technologies changes the regulatory equation.

The former aggravates the latter. Until governments stop trying to apply regulation to the conditions of the former (mass) media environment, in which professionally produced media was published or broadcast to people who merely consumed it, they will not fully protect 鈥渃onsumers,鈥� who are now producers and participants every bit as much as consumers and whose media is the content of their lives.

Under these conditions, self-regulation (personal as well as corporate) becomes as essential to 鈥渃onsumer鈥� protection as the government kind, and regulatory power is increasingly distributed and shared among users, media companies, and government (see this in my聽聽last summer).

Regulation in today鈥檚 media environment is necessarily a collaboration, and effective consumer protection under these new conditions requires a lot more consumer education not only about the importance of self-regulation but also about not having a false sense of security about regulation!

Obtaining your consent

The new COPPA Rule will also change the ways you can give your consent to children鈥檚 sites and services. New methods include 鈥渆lectronic scans of signed parental consent forms; video-conferencing [sounds like you could have a Skype chat with a kids' Web site or app company]; use of government-issued identification [a scan of your driver's license, perhaps]; and alternative payment systems, such as debit cards and electronic payment systems, provided they meet certain criteria,鈥� according to the FTC.

How do you feel about giving consent in these ways?聽

The new rule goes into effect next July 1,聽.

Related links

• A study released late November from New York University found that COPPA has likely increased minors鈥� risk online 鈥� see聽.
• 础听聽released last year about how, despite COPPA, a large proportion of US parents of children under 13 help their kids set up accounts in social network sites
• ConnectSafely.org submitted a聽聽to the FTC about the proposed revisions this past September.
• In 2010, a task force I co-chaired sent Congress our report 鈥淵outh Safety on a Living Internet鈥� 鈥� here鈥檚 a聽聽about why we chose that title.
• A year before that, my ConnectSafely.org co-director and I published a document entitled 鈥�,鈥� explaining why youth agency (and not treating youth or adult users only as potential victims) is essential to their protection.

Anne Collier is editor of , a blog, RSS feed, and e-mail newsletter that focuses on "kid-tech news for parents.鈥�

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