• Recommend:
• 0 Comments

FTC Advises Sites to Get Parents%squot Consent to Use Info on Kids

In response to a complaint by consumer groups, the FTC recommended that sites obtain %dquotpermission slips%dquot from parents before collecting information on children.

By Daniel Meisler, PCWorld   

The subject of the complaint by the Center for Media Education and the Consumer Federation of America was a Web site called KidsCom. The groups alleged that KidsCom collected personal information without specifying how the information would be used.

The FTC letter agreed with the complaint, but did not penalize The KidsCom Company, which runs the Web site, because the site was changed to comply with the FTC guidelines.

Victoria Streitfeld, an FTC spokeswoman, said this was the first time the agency has considered what %dquotdeceptive practices%dquot are for online material aimed at children. She added that the guidelines are not new regulations, but meant to promote self-regulation in the industry.

The FTC recommended that parents should have %dquotadequate notice%dquot about how information provided by their kids will be used, including who is collecting the information, what information is being gathered, if the information may be given to a third party, and how to prevent the transmission of the information to a third party.

%dquotWe believe that before releasing individually identifiable data about children,%dquot the letter states, %dquotthe company should obtain parental consent.%dquot

KidsCom now complies with this guideline by sending e-mail and regular mail to parents and then waiting for a response before releasing information obtained from children.

The FTC%squots purpose in issuing the letter was to get other Web content providers to %dquotcease and desist%dquot posting any offending material, said Streitfeld. Even if the FTC were to pursue legal action, %dquotthe goal is to get them to stop,%dquot she said, not to issue any fines or other punishment. The FTC is relying on the bad publicity such action would provoke, she added. %dquotBy and large, the business community takes these things seriously.%dquot

Streitfeld said she could not confirm that the FTC is investigating other Web sites but said, %dquotWe are looking at as much as we can look at.%dquot