Parent Regulations

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.

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 purpose of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) is to protect parents and students rights.  PPRA applies to organizations receiving federal monies from the U.S. Department of Education.  The amendment ensures that instructional materials be made available to the parents for their inspection.  The instructional materials includes any on-line sites that students will be using in conjunction with instruction.  "It (PPRA) seeks to ensure that schools and contractors obtain written parental consent before minor students are required to participate in any ED-funded survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals..." personal information about the student or his/her family.