Privacy Advocates Blast Proposed Change to Child Privacy Law

Privacy advocates are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to reject a proposal first offered by the Walt Disney Company that would change how companies comply with a 1998 law requiring websites directed at children to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from child users.

A coalition of privacy and public interest groups voiced concern with a proposal made by Disney during the first round of comments on proposed revisions to the rule implementing the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. Last year, the FTC proposed updating the rule to reflect changes in technology and the different ways children access online information. The law bars online sites or services "directed at children" from collecting personal information from children under 13 without first obtaining their parents' consent. The Center for Digital Democracy, which filed comments on behalf of several privacy and public interest groups such as Consumers Union and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, argued that children would have less protection online if this change is implemented. Jeff Chester, the Center for Digital Democracy's executive director, said if the FTC makes the change to COPPA, "all of sudden a clearly targeted-to-children site ... would no longer have to implement COPPA throughout the site." Given this, the group argued in its comments that "the proposed language would permit child-directed websites or services to avoid COPPA by 'age gating,' and children's privacy would receive much less protections as a result."