The COPPA Rule
imposes certain requirements on website or online service operators
whose services are directed at children under 13 years-old, as well
as operators who have ‘actual knowledge’ that they are collecting
personal information from children under 13.
Among other things, it requires that these website operators
post privacy policies, provide parental notice and obtain
verifiable consent from a parent or guardian before collecting
personal information from children.
It takes a sliding scale approach to parental consent, defining
the measures required to obtain verifiable parental consent
according to how the website operator intends to use the
information that it collects.
This means that if the operator intends to disclose information
collected from children to the public or a third party, then it
must use more reliable methods for obtaining verifiable parental
consent. In contrast, if the operator intends to use information
from children for its internal use only, then it also can obtain
verifiable parental consent by an email from the parent if it also
confirms the consent by sending a message to the parent by delayed
email, fax, or telephone.
When COPPA was introduced it required the FTC to review the Rule
within five years of its effective date. The watchdog has now done
so, deciding that the Rule can be retained exactly as it is.
The FTC based its determination partly on a positive response to
a public consultation on the implementation of the Rule. This
revealed that, in general, COPPA has succeeded in providing greater
protection to children’s personal information online, that there is
a continuing need for the Rule, and that the Rule should be
retained.
In particular, many respondents thought that the Rule provided
website operators with a clear set of standards to follow and said
that operators have received few, if any, complaints from parents
about the standards and how they are implemented.
In the opinion of many respondents, operators’ have responded to
the Rule by limiting the personal information they collect from
children, and the Rule’s requirements have struck an appropriate
balance between protecting children’s personal information online
and preserving children’s ability to access content.
They also said that operators have been successful in
maintaining popular and viable websites in the five years since the
Rule was implemented.
With regard to the sliding scale for parental approval,
respondents did not find that screening for visitors’ age on
general audience websites had become a problem, and they supported
the FTC’s continued approval of using a credit card with a
transaction as a method of obtaining verifiable parental consent to
the collection of children’s personal information.
The FTC is therefore making no changes to the Rule’s substantive
provisions, and will shortly submit a comprehensive assessment of
COPPA’s implementation to Congress.
