COPPA: Protecting Kids Online Since 1998 - Essay Sample

Introduction

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998, 15 USC. 6501-6505 is a United States federal law that enacts various provisions on websites operators as well as online services focused on children under 13 years (Federal Trade Commission, 2018). COPPA impose regulations to online operators that are aware that they are accumulating personal information online from children below 13 years of age. Specifically, the Act applies to operators under the United States jurisdiction and includes children outside the United States as well. According to COPPA, it contains significant specifications. First, COPPA defines that online operators must require parental consent to collect and use any personal information about users under 13 years. Next, the Act requires that a website operator has to be included in the privacy policy and detail on what data could be collected. Also, the Act enacts how and when to require verifiable consent from a guardian (Federal Trade Commission, 2018). Likewise, the COPPA ratifies responsibilities that the website operators legally hold concerning the children's safety and privacy online, along with the different methods of marketing that target the website users below the age of 13 (Cai, Gantz, Schwartz, & Wang, 2003).

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The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act was passed by the United States Congress in 1998 and took effect in April 2000. COPPA is enacted and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). According to research by the Center of Media Education, it found that numerous online platforms were acquiring private and sensitive information children without parental consent (Inc.com). In another survey conducted by FTC in 1998, it studied 212 websites and found that 89% of the reviewed sites collected personal data from children (Federal Trade Commission, 2018). Of the data acquired by the online services from the children, 46% of the websites could not disclose how and where the collected information was used (Inc.com). As a result of such developments, FTC established COPPA to address the rapid growth of website marketing practices in the late 1990s targeting children (Federal Trade Commission, 2018).

Further, COPPA has helped the designing of "safe harbor," which is designed to promote self-regulation in the industry (DiSabatino, 2001). With adherence to the provisions of COPPA, a website operator can request approval for self-regulation to control participants' compliance. As of June 2016, FCT has approved move than seven safe harbor frameworks operated by the Internet Keep Sale Coalition (iKeepSafe), Samet Privacy (kidSAFE), CARU, TRUSTe, among others (DiSabatino, 2001). Even though COPPA does not provide a specific definition of how parental or guardian consent should be gained, the FTC allows the creation of guidelines that assist website operators in complying with the Act. Most of the instructions have been made possible through advancements to the Act.

COPPA act has had various revisions over the years since its enactment in 2000 (Cai et al., 2003). In a review made in 2011, a proposed rule was developed to change the definition of what it means to 'collect" data from children (Cai et al., 2003). Within the proposal, it delivered the need for data retention and deletion provisions, clarifying that the collected data should be retained up to a given period. The different reforms to the Act have allowed for the formulation of regulations protecting children under 13 years from manipulation by third parties (Cai et al., 2003). More suggestions delivered by FTC under COPPA include the requirement that a parent should be able to call a toll-free contact, a condition that a guardian or parent uses a credit card to authenticate identity and age, emails from a parent that includes digital signature are acceptable. A clear and downloadable consent form should be available for the operator (Inc.com).

Cases Involving Violations of COPPA

Throughout the administration and enforcement of COPPA, FTC has taken charge against website operators violating the requirement of the Act by imposing significant fines on them. For instance, UMG Recordings, Inc. was fined approximately US$400,000 in February 2004, for violation of COPPA requirements involving an online service that promoted Lil' Romeo, a 13-year-old pop star and had hosted child-oriented activities (Federal Trade Commission, 2018). Likewise, Bonzi Software, offering downloads of "BonziBuddy," an animated figure that offers trivia, jokes, as well as shopping tips, violated the requirements under COPPA and was fined US$75,000 (Federal Trade Commission, 2018). In 2006, FTC fined the owners of Xanga online service approximately US$1 million for repeatedly violating COPPA requirements by allowing children below 13 years to sign up and log in to the website without parental consent (Federal Trade Commission, 2018). There have been more actions by the FTC for COPPA violating to protect children's privacy and security. Various applications have been pulled down by Google and Apple from their stores after events of COPPA violations. For instance, dating applications by Wildec were pulled down from the stores after a determination by FTC that children below 13 years would register to the dating applications (Federal Trade Commission, 2018).

Another example of a court case involving the violation of COPPA includes a February 2019 case involving TikTok, a video social networking application. From the court case, FTC fined TikTok US$5.7 million over allegations that TikTok collected private information from children without the consent of the parents or guardians (Federal Trade Commission, 2019). Still, in 2019, the FTC imposed a fine of US$170 million to YouTube on September 4th for the violation of COPPA requirements (Federal Trade Commission, 2019). The violations included the practice of YouTube to track the viewing history of children below 13 years to promote targeted advertising. Because of the issued penalty, YouTube delivered the announcement that, as part of the settlement with the FTC, it would be necessary for online services or channel operators to categories their videos as "child-oriented" in 2020 (Federal Trade Commission, 2019). YouTube claimed it would apply machine learning to mark videos targeting the population below 13 years of age as "child-oriented." As such, it was clear that any online service owner or channel operator that failed to mark videos targeted for children under 13 years old as "child-oriented" would accrue a fine of up US$42,000 by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission, 2019). Thus, if an individual is found guilty for the violation of COPPA, some of the punishments include termination of online service offers and pulling down of the application or website. In most cases, punishment involves hefty fines.

References

Cai, X., Gantz, W., Schwartz, N., & Wang, X. (2003). Children's website adherence to the FTC's online privacy protection rule. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 31(4), 346-362.

DiSabatino, J. (2001). FTC. OKs self-regulation to protect children's privacy'. Computerworld, 12, 32.

Federal Trade Commission. (2018). Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA"). Retrieved from https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule

Federal Trade Commission. (2019). Google and YouTube Will Pay Record $170 Million for Alleged Violations of Children's Privacy Law. Retrieved from https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/09/google-youtube-will-pay-record-170-million-alleged-violations.

Inc.com. (n.d.). Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/childrens-online-privacy-protection-act-coppa.html