[Islam-Online- Society]

April 21, 2000 marks a major change in how the Internet handles children. The boundaries of the World Wide Web have been changing faster than the laws can. And, as a medium with redeeming as well as questionable qualities, it has been difficult to know what those laws should be. Where do we draw the line between protection and censorship? How do we distinguish the fine line between a child that needs to be protected and one that is mature enough to make his or her own decisions?

Signed into law on October 21, 1998, the Children's Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) provides safeguards to protect the privacy of children on the Internet. It does so by limiting the collection of personal information from children 12 years old and younger. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule that puts COPPA into action became effective as of April 21, 2000.

Kathryn Montgomery, president of the Center for Media Education (CME) calls COPPA "a major step forward to protect our children, our most vulnerable citizens, from manipulative and exploitative marketing and advertising practices on the Web."

COPPA requires commercial Web sites designed to target children to get permission from parents before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children less than 13 years of age. Personal information refers to the child's full name, address (e-mail or home), telephone number, or any other information that would make contact a possibility. Also, the sites are not allowed to collect information about the child's hobbies or interests, information often used for targeted marketing.

If they do want to collect information, COPPA requires that Web sites obtain verifiable parental consent. This means that the Web site must have authorization from the parent before any information is collected. Often times this will mean giving a parent's credit card number for verification.

Each Web site's privacy policy must also be clearly stated. This policy should disclose exactly what information is collected and how it is used. Also, any third parties that information is given to must be disclosed and made easily accessible.

Many large companies, such as the Walt Disney Company, are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to make the necessary modifications to their sites. Where would Walt Disney be without the under-13 market? Many other companies, either because they cannot make the changes, or because they don't feel children make up a significant portion of their target audience, are simply eliminating pre-teens from their sites.

What COPPA means:

Personal information cannot be collected from children 12 years of age and younger, without parental consent.
Parental consent, generally, must be verifiable. That means it must require something like an authorization form or having the parent call an authorization phone number.
Web sites must clearly demonstrate their privacy policy.
Parents have the right to know exactly what is being collected and for what purpose.
Parents have the right to review the information that is collected and have it deleted, if they so choose.

What COPPA doesn't mean:
COPPA doesn't require parental permission under certain conditions:

Children's email can be collected on a one-time basis. For example, if a child must submit his/her email in order to ask a question of a Web site.
Children may send information in order to enter a contest or join a mailing list, if the parent is notified and has the opportunity to stop further use of the personal information.
Monitored chat rooms are allowed to accept personal information without parental consent if that information is not posted publicly and is later deleted from the operator's record.

More information on COPPA and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/