Since the enactment of COPPA, several social media and tech companies have violated the Act. SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECH COMPANIES’ VIOLATIONS OF COPPA The FTC previously considered EPIC’s recommendations in an early review of the COPPA Rule and incorporated several of EPIC’s recommendations in the 2013 regulations.
EPIC said “the FTC must now establish clear safeguards for children’s data gathered in schools.” EPIC testified before Congress in 1996 in support of the original children’s privacy law. EPIC said the FTC should: (1) maintain the strong safeguards for children’s data, (2) reject the “school official exception”, (3) the FTC define the term “commercial purpose” and ensure that children’s personal data collected in schools is not transferred to EdTech companies and (4) the FTC require notification within forty-eights of a data breach of children’s data by a company subject to COPPA. In 2019, EPIC submitted comments to the FTC on the agency’s regulatory review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rules. At the state level, COPPA authorizes state attorneys general to bring actions in federal district court to enforce compliance with the FTC regulations and to obtain damages or other forms of compensation and relief. Violators could be liable for up to $43,792 per violation. In order to ensure compliance with the rule, the FTC monitors the Internet and encourages complaints from parents on its website. Also, COPPA applies to foreign websites that are directed at US children.Īt the federal level, COPPA violations are considered to be unfair or deceptive trade practices under § 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the FTC can impose civil penalties for its violation. The Act does not apply to general audience websites however, operators of such sites, who have specific sections for children or actual knowledge of children using their site, must follow the COPPA regulations. 212.ĬOPPA sets forth a framework of Fair Information Practices governing the collection, access to, and use of personal information by website directed to children. The Child Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C.A general requirement to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of any personal information that is collected online from children.Ĭongress’ intent in passing the Act was to increase parental involvement in children’s online activities, ensure children’s safety during their participation in online activities, and most importantly, protect children’s personal information.Limited collection of personal information when a child participates in online games and contests.A Right to revoke consent and have information deleted.Disclosure to parents of any information collected on their children by the website.Acquisition of a verifiable parental consent prior to collection of personal information from a child under the age of 13.Incorporation of a detailed privacy policy that describes the information collected from its users.The main requirements of the Act that a website operator must comply with include: The Act applies to commercial websites and online services that are directed at children. The Act was passed in response to a growing awareness of Internet marketing techniques that targeted children and collected their personal information from websites without any parental notification. The Act took effect in April 2000 and was revised in 2013. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) specifically aims to protect the privacy of children under the age of 13 by requesting parental consent for the collection or use of any personal information of the users.
CHILDREN’S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT (COPPA) EPIC advocates for a dedicated agency to fully protect all individuals online and supports comprehensive federal privacy legislation. Unfortunately, enforcement of the Act often falls behind new technology, tech companies’ mergers and acquisitions, and insufficient FTC action to stop violations. Accordingly, Congress enacted the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, one of the few federal privacy laws in the U.S. Children are especially vulnerable to online privacy violations.
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