Copyright © 1998-2007. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse / Utility Consumers' Action Network |
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Children’s Safety on the Internet:
This guide discusses marketing to youth and other online privacy issues affecting children. If you are interested in safety topics, read the companion guide, Fact Sheet 21a, Children’s Online Safety, www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs21a-childsafety.htm. Many children are skilled navigators of the Internet. They are comfortable using computers and are fascinated by the information and images that can be explored at the click of a mouse. Recent figures show that 90% of school-age children have access to computers either at home or at school. (National Center for Education Statistics The Internet offers children and youth tremendous opportunities to explore new ideas, visit foreign lands, meet other children, and participate in challenging games. But like the real world, aspects of the virtual world can be harmful to children. Web sites collect significant amounts of personal information from children. By asking children to register with the site, join a kids’ club, enter a contest, or fill out a questionnaire, these sites can compile names, addresses, favorite activities and commercial products. This information then is used to create customer lists, which may be sold to brokers who, in turn, sell them to other businesses. Parents, teachers and other guardians cannot always be on hand to prevent children and youth from visiting web sites with harmful or objectionable content. Nor can they always be available to discuss with children what they are encountering in the online world. The words “harmful” and “objectionable” can be interpreted in many ways. In this guide, we use these terms to also describe advertising messages and images that are highly manipulative of children. A companion guide, Fact Sheet 21a, Children’s Safety on the Internet (www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs21a-childsafety.htm), deals with threats from pornography, profanity, and hate speech. Both guides provide resources for parents to maximize the benefits of cyberspace for children and minimize the dangers. No easy answers exist to ensure your child has harm-free experiences on the Internet. Likewise, there are no truly effective technology-based solutions. That’s because, in the final analysis, there is no substitute for parental involvement in children's exploration of cyberspace. The best way to ensure that your children have positive online experiences is to spend time with them and ask them to show you their activities. Here are the top tips for protecting children’s privacy on the Internet. For additional tips, read the remainder of this guide and get acquainted with the many other materials listed. 1. Read the privacy policy statements on the web sites visited by your children. Teach older children to do the same. Look for policies that explain what information is collected, if any, what the web site operator does with it, and how you can choose whether or not the child’s information can be collected. 2. Decide if you are going to give consent. If your child is under age 13, you must decide if you are going to give permission for web sites to collect personal information from them, a requirement of federal law (see Section 3). Be sure to carefully read the privacy policy and terms of service before making this decision. 3. Look for the web seal. Look for a privacy "seal of approval” on the first page, such as that of TRUSTe, www.truste.org. To display the logo, participants must agree to post their privacy policies and submit to audits of their privacy practices. Web seal programs also provide dispute resolution services. TRUSTe displays a seal especially for children under age 13. 4. Establish a contract with your youngster. Encourage your children, especially teens, to take responsibility for their online behavior by establishing a contract with them. The Federal Trade Commission’s “Site Seeing on the Internet” provides sample language, www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/sitesee.shtm. The web guide for parents, GetNetWise, also provides sample contract language, www.getnetwise.org/tools/toolscontracts.php. 5. Set family rules for online computer use. Among those suggested by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.ncmec.org and www.netsmartz411.org) are the following:
3. Online Marketing to Children What are the privacy implications of children visiting commercial web sites? Children are a highly marketed segment of the consumer population. Advertisers and marketers can use the Internet to target children and gather personal information from them for marketing purposes. When children visit commercial web sites, they might be tempted to fill out surveys, exchange personal information for gifts, register for club memberships, sign up to receive games, and give up personal information in chat rooms. After learning a child's name and favorite fictional hero, a company might send the child an e-mail message pretending to be from that “person.” Younger children are not likely to realize the difference between fiction and reality. Web sites can also be designed to invisibly gather information about children's interests as the child "travels" from page to page, or site to site. Such transactional data is called the "clickstream." It often triggers the placement of "cookies" or “web bugs” on the computer used by the child, which in turn enable targeted ads to be displayed. Web browsers can be set to detect and reject cookies. For more information about cookies and web bugs, read our Fact Sheet 18, “Privacy and the Internet: Traveling in Cyberspace Safely," www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm. See also the useful online privacy guides at www.getnetwise.org and www.consumerprivacyguide.org. GetNetWise provides a glossary of online terms, www.getnetwise.org/glossary . In short, the interactive world of cyberspace is a highly seductive and potentially manipulative environment for children. Many opportunities exist for gathering data from children and sending them targeted messages. How have policymakers and consumer advocates responded to the issues of children's privacy on the Internet? Studies by the Federal Trade Commission and public interest groups in the mid-1990s revealed that commercial web sites aimed at children were collecting a significant amount of personal information and targeting them with advertising. In 1998 Congress passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which took effect in 2000. (15 U.S.C. 6501, or 16 C.F.R §312, www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm) COPPA covers web sites that are developed expressly for children. But it also covers any online service which has knowledge that it collects information from children. This includes sites that allow children to use interactive communication tools. So, even if the site is not collecting information about children, if a child’s personal information can be made public on the site (such as through IM — Instant Messaging — or a message board), and the site has knowledge of this, it may be held liable under COPPA. COPPA requires that web sites and online services directed to children under age 13 must:
Further, web sites cannot require a child to provide personal information as a condition of participating in online games, contests, or other activities when it is not necessary to do so. The Federal Trade Commission oversees the implementation of this law. When COPPA was passed, the law required that the FTC in five years determine the costs and benefits of the law and whether it should be retained without change, modified, or eliminated. The FTC determined in 2006 that COPPA continued to be valuable to children, parents, and web sites, and was retained without changes. The FTC’s web site has extensive information oh COPPA. See especially FAQs at www.ftc.gov/privacy/coppafaqs.htm and FTC’s “Kidz Privacy” pages at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/index.html. Other sites offering resources on COPPA include:
What can I do if I suspect that a web site is violating COPPA? If you think a web site or online service is not complying with COPPA, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission:
If the web site or online service is a member of a seal programs such as TRUSTe, you can also complain to those organizations. Their contact information is at the end of this guide. Is software available that will prevent my children from transmitting their personal information to web sites? Yes, although it is not entirely effective. The primary purpose of “parental-control” software, also known as filtering software, is to block objectionable content such as pornography. Several software programs can also be used to block the outgoing transmission of children's personally identifying information, such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers. These programs can also block the use of online chat systems and Instant Messaging (IM). Parental control software packages include CyberPatrol, CyberSitter, CyberSnoop, and NetNanny. Be aware that children and youth skilled on the computer can "outsmart" filtering software by entering alternate spellings of names and addresses, numbers written out as words, and so on (for example, Kevven for Kevin). To learn more about the many filtering products available to parents, conduct a search on the words “parental control software” on a search engine such as Google, www.google.com. Also, visit the GetNetWise web site, www.getnetwise.org. Fact Sheet No. 21a, Children’s Online Safety, provides further information on filtering. www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs21a-childrensafety.htm . Yes. You have many ad-blocking programs to choose from, including AdDelete, www.addelete.com, and AdWiper, www.adwiper.com. Some are free or available at low cost, for example SpamFighter, www.spamfighter.com. In addition to preventing ads from being targeted at children, they can speed up your web surfing. The Junkbusters web site describes ad-blocking programs at www.junkbusters.com/guidescope.html. Also, visit Net Security, www.netsecurity.about.com . How can I learn more about online marketing to children? The Canadian organization Media Awareness Network (www.media-awareness.ca) discusses online marketing to children and youth at Is there a law that prohibits unwanted spam? The CAN-SPAM Act, effective in 2004, contains provisions that may help parents concerned by the amount of inappropriate e-mail their children receive. The law is primarily aimed at eliminating deceptive unsolicited commercial e-mail, but also addresses the problem of sexually oriented, unsolicited e-mail. The act requires that e-mail messages that contain sexually explicit material be so labeled in the subject line. The FTC requires that the text “Sexually-Explicit” be printed at the beginning of the subject line. In turn, concerned parents can use filtering techniques to block e-mail that contains that required text. (Read the FTC’s final rule about labeling e-mail, www.ftc.gov/os/2004/04/040413adultemailfinalrule.pdf ) Further, the sexually oriented e-mail must contain an opening page with a clear and conspicuous option to not receive any more e-mail from the sender and a legitimate physical address of the sender. The opener page, called a “virtual brown wrapper” by some, cannot contain any graphic material, but instead may contain a link to the sexually oriented material. Violation of these rules can be reported to the FTC or to your state’s Attorney General. Violations of the act will result in fines under Title 18, imprisonment of no more than five years, or both. It remains to be seen if the law will be effective in labeling sexually oriented spam and enable individuals to prevent it from appearing in the computer’s in-box. Visit the Spam Laws web site for more information, www.spamlaws.com/state/index.shtml (no endorsements implied). Numerous agencies and organizations provide brochures and other resources about Internet privacy and safety, both online and in paper form. To order paper copies, see the postal addresses and phone numbers at the end of this guide.
6. Special Resources for TeensThe Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), discussed in Section 3, requires parental consent before web sites can collect data from children. But the law only protects those under age 13. The lives of many teens are closely intertwined with the electronic culture offered by commercial web sites and by Internet services like social networking, Instant Messaging and music sharing. Teens are both shaping and being shaped by their immersion in the digital culture. Marketing to teens is rampant on the Internet. It is common practice for Internet services aimed at teens to offer free products and services in exchange for personal information. A growing number of teens are shopping online. While it is beyond the scope of this guide to cover online shopping and e-commerce, the world of online music deserves special attention because of its popularity with teens. The PrivacyActivism web site (www.privacyactivism.org/carabella/) invites teens to join the character Carabella as she attempts to obtain music on the Internet. The interactive video game highlights the ways that consumers' privacy and fair-use rights are being whittled away by digital-rights management technologies, online spyware, and data-profiling services. In another episode, Carabella goes to college and learns how to safeguard her privacy there. For general information about online shopping, see our Fact Sheet 23, www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs23-shopping.htm. For a frank discussion of "cyber street smarts" for youth, visit the web site of CyberAngels, www.cyberangels.org. Its resources offer no-nonsense tips on a variety of topics that are relevant to teens, including dating services, cyberstalking, e-mail privacy, and the dangers of filesharing. www.cyberangels.org/101/index.html The WiredSafety family of web sites offers resources for teens at www.wiredteens.org and www.wiredpatrol.org. Newspaper columnist Larry Magid provides a special section of his SafeKids web site for teens and their parents, www.safeteens.com, including many of his articles on child and teen safety. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children publishes brochures, “Teen Safety on the Information Highway” (www.safeteens.com) as well as a “Child Safety on the Information Highway” guide (www.safekids.com) Both are available in English and Spanish, and in paper and online. NetSmartz411, an online service by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, answers parents’ questions involving online activities of children and youth. (www.netsmartz411.org)
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Copyright © 1998-2007. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse/UCAN.. This copyrighted document may be copied and distributed for nonprofit, educational purposes only. For distribution of this fact sheet, see our copyright and reprint guidelines. The text of this document may not be altered without express authorization of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. This fact sheet should be used as an information source and not as legal advice. PRC fact sheets contain information about federal laws as well as some California-specific information. Laws in other states may vary. Overall, our fact sheets are applicable to consumers nationwide. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 3100 - 5th Ave., Suite B, San Diego, CA 92103. Web: www.privacyrights.org |
