Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act (COPPA) was established in 1998 creating may rules
for children accessing the Internet. COPPA was created by the Federal Trade Commission and the FTC is the organization responsible for
its maintainence. What parents should keep in
mind, is that COPPA
only applies to web sites that are directed to children 13 years old
and younger and only covers children in said age range. Web sites
that are directed to children ages 14 and above and children in said
age range are not covered by COPPA.
The
main focus of COPPA is the collection of private
information from children. The regulations are summarized as
follows.
| 1.
|
Website operator or service collecting information is required to identify what information is collected, how it will be used, and disclosure practices and must obtain verifiable parental consent (see updated information below table). |
| 2. |
Website
operator or service collecting information must provide to requesting
parent a description of the information collected, opportunity to
refuse future collection of information, and when reasonable, allow the
parent to have the information that was collected from the child. |
| 3. |
Website
operator or service must not encourage children via any activity
(prizes, games) to provide more information that is necessary to
participate in the activity. |
| 4. |
Website
operator or service must maintain procedures to protect personal
information collected. |
Children's
Online Privacy Protection Rule is an amendment to COPPA. This
amendment specifically address the issues of verifiable parental
consent. The Rule offers a sliding scale for
obtaining parental consent, one for information collected for internal
use only and one for disclosing information to the public or third
parties.
For information that is for
internal use only, operators may use an e-mail to the parent with
additional steps. "Such
additional steps include: sending a delayed confirmatory e-mail
to the parent after receiving consent or obtaining a postal address or
telephone number from the parent and confirming the parent's consent by
letter or telephone call."
For information that will be dispersed to the public or third parties, more reliable methods of consent are necessary. "These methods include: using a print-and-send form that can be faxed or mailed back to the website operator; requiring a parent to use a credit card in connection with a transaction; having a parent call a toll-free telephone number staffed by trained personnel; using a digital certificate that uses public key technology; and using e-mail accompanied by a PIN or password obtained through one of the above methods."
The original act
required the review of the processes for verifying parental consent
methods to begin five years after the original date of the act.
The review was deemed necessary because the commission considered the
possibility that technology might advance enough to require more modern
verification processes. As a result of the review established the
Children's
Online Privacy Protection Rule. The Rule determined that
the technology had not advanced enough to require changes in the
original version. The Rule determined further that the prior
methods of verifying parental consent were adequate and should be used
indefinitely.
The
study identifies four categories of commercial activities as product
sales, direct advertising, indirect advertising, and market
research. Market research is the focus because NCLBA places
requirements on districts that deal with the collection, disclosure,
and use of student data for marketing and selling. Market
research covers internet surveys or polls asking for informaiton
related to commercial activities and tracking students' Internet
behavior and responses to questions calling for personal identification
at one or more Web sites (CAS).
""...some Web filtering systems used in schools that block student
access to certain Web sites also allow the company that maintains that
software to measure and anlyze how children use the Internet by
tracking which Web sites they visit and how long they stay there" (CAS). Web
filtering systems are legally allowed to do such tracking.
25 state legislatures have considered at least one bill that affects commercialism in schools. Most of these considerations focus on child nutrition. None of the states legislatures have addressed online commericialism as a specific issue. The study indicates that few schools consider the distribution of student information. The study also indicates that schools may not be necessary in gaining child information because children often provide their personal information online in exchange for prizes. Because many schools have not been approached by marketeers, the districts are not very concerned with creating a policy to address such issues.
State and Local Regulations and Guidelines
As the federal has
begun to regulate commercialism on the Internet
and in schools, many states and schools have been looking at policies
to
regulate this. The Center for
Commercial-Free Public Education has created a survey
to help schools decide
the amount of commercialism that is present in their district. This is also useful in finding
out what type of policy would need to be developed by individual
schools.
The Virginia
Department of Education has created a website
that schools can use to help create a policy for Internet use. It also
provides users with a list of valuable links. In 2005, the Massachusetts’s
Department of Education has also created an acceptable use policy and
guidelines for their schools to use in developing a school plan.