COPPA does not exist to be a pain, it exists as a way to help make sites that target tweens and children (intentionally or not) responsible for the content they are making public. It exists to protect children from having their personally identifiable info available in a public forum.
No one makes people enter into the business of social networking. Like any other business there are ethics and laws by which that business must abide. If a site is blatantly ignoring basic safeguards COPPA requires, they are breaking the law and should suffer the sanctions outlined under those laws.
Yes, parents should be the primary dispensers of the morals needed for their kids to navigate the sometimes age-inappropriate corners of the Internet. But if a site has an open journaling tool or has fields requesting information that would make a child easy to find and possibly hurt, that site DOES has an obligation (ethically and legally) to put the necessary hurdles in place to protect those children.
There are many levels of personal identification described in COPPA, all with different levels of verification needed. For example, if a child is signing up for a newsletter, no parental consent is needed. If their comments are not screened and made public, parental consent is needed.
There are many ways to verify parental consent. Credit card is one, 1-800 # is another, signed fax form is another. Once the parent agrees, anything the kid puts up is fair game. For more limited access, there is a new amendment to the act describing an email plus verification. The safeguards are actually not that hard, and many of those who target children specifically in their communities place much higher barriers to entry just to be sure.
Fines for COPPA violations are based on a per occurrence measurement.
And I am sure any of you who would like to donate your time or money to the exploration of more efficient and easier ways of verifiable parental consent would be greeted with open arms by the folks at the FTC.
Joi Podgorny Director of Online Community Star Farm Productions
Slashdot Mirror
Much more interested in at least some of the facts and intentions being inserted (however nested). :)
COPPA does not exist to be a pain, it exists as a way to help make sites that target tweens and children (intentionally or not) responsible for the content they are making public. It exists to protect children from having their personally identifiable info available in a public forum.
No one makes people enter into the business of social networking. Like any other business there are ethics and laws by which that business must abide. If a site is blatantly ignoring basic safeguards COPPA requires, they are breaking the law and should suffer the sanctions outlined under those laws.
Yes, parents should be the primary dispensers of the morals needed for their kids to navigate the sometimes age-inappropriate corners of the Internet. But if a site has an open journaling tool or has fields requesting information that would make a child easy to find and possibly hurt, that site DOES has an obligation (ethically and legally) to put the necessary hurdles in place to protect those children.
There are many levels of personal identification described in COPPA, all with different levels of verification needed. For example, if a child is signing up for a newsletter, no parental consent is needed. If their comments are not screened and made public, parental consent is needed.
There are many ways to verify parental consent. Credit card is one, 1-800 # is another, signed fax form is another. Once the parent agrees, anything the kid puts up is fair game. For more limited access, there is a new amendment to the act describing an email plus verification. The safeguards are actually not that hard, and many of those who target children specifically in their communities place much higher barriers to entry just to be sure.
Fines for COPPA violations are based on a per occurrence measurement.
And I am sure any of you who would like to donate your time or money to the exploration of more efficient and easier ways of verifiable parental consent would be greeted with open arms by the folks at the FTC.
Joi Podgorny
Director of Online Community
Star Farm Productions