FTC Looks at Child Privacy Changes

In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is considering revisions to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which would require parental consent for the collection of 'persistent identifiers' used to build data on online behavior or for targeting ads.

'COPPA', passed in the year 2000 (www.coppa.org ) has been used to prosecute online data collectors including US clothing firm Iconix and analytics firm EchoMetrix. The new proposal suggests the requirement for parental notification and consent should apply to any identifying or tracking technology - such as cookies - linking a child's browsing behaviour across multiple web pages and services. This would seemingly apply both to advertisers and to measurement and analytics services, even where data is used and stored anonymously.

The proposal makes provision for self-regulation but suggests that such programs and companies on them are closely monitored, and audited every 18 months. Both the compliance activities of individual companies and the steps taken against transgressors would have to be well-documented.

Comments on the proposals are due by November 28th.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.