CARU's Annual Conference Was a Success

Yesterday, CARU held its annual conference at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park. The event was an excellent opportunity for industry members to discuss issues and concerns amongst the community.

Panelists wowed attendees with a wealth of information. Discussions focused on issues facing the children's advertising industry, how online and mobile technology has changed the way companies market their products to children in the US and abroad, nuances of the modified COPPA Rule, how companies are implementing new practices to comply with these changes in their online and mobile marketing and much much more. Panelists also discussed strategies for utilizing online interest-based advertising and other third party initiatives while maintaining legal and regulatory compliance, marketing to children through non-traditional means, domestic and global challenges in self-regulation. There was even a panel advising what to consider when working with younger talent--something that many in the industry is familiar with.

The Keynote speaker, Terrell McSweeny, urged advertisers and others covered by its Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule not to ignore the regulation's data security requirements, saying that the recent rash of massive data breaches has made safeguarding data vitally important. McSweeny warned that the commission plans to bring more children’s privacy enforcement cases similar to a pair of recent actions. Elliott Siebers, Deputy Attorney General in New Jersey for the Department of Law and Public Safety, predicted that state enforcers would also become more active in the area.

Thanks to our sponsors for their ongoing and generous support.

CARU Speaks at Community Board in Manhattan

CARU staff attorney Andra Dallas gave a presentation to Community Board 1, serving lower Manhattan on Monday, December 7 th . Andra spoke to the Board’s Youth Committee about the importance of teaching children about understanding advertising and safe online practices. District Manager Noah Pfefferblit remarked, “thank you for your informative presentation to our Youth Committee members,” and offered the Board’s assistance if they “can be helpful to the important efforts at the Children's Advertising Review Unit.” Are you interested in having a CARU staff member visit your community board? Contact adallas@caru.bbb.org.

i-Dressup Shuts Down in Wake of Privacy Breach and COPPA Violation

I-Dressup, a fashion-themed social website for teens, has completely shut down as part of a settlement with the New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs, following a massive privacy breach and violations of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and New Jersey state law. In September 2016, a hacker sent 2.2 million i-Dressup account credentials to technology blog Arstechnica as well as to haveibeenpwned.com, a searchable online database of data breaches. Responding to the news, New Jersey investigators discovered that 2,519 of the compromised accounts belonged to New Jersey children below age 13. I-Dressup, allegedly aware that it had child users, had violated COPPA by failing to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting and processing personal information from the children, including first and last names and email addresses. In a consent decree with the New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Gerwal, parent company Unixiz has closed i-Dressup,

Kids Internet Design and Safety Act Seeks to Protect Children from Harmful Online Content

United States Senators, Mr. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut and Mr. Edward Markey from Massachusetts, introduced a new bill referred to as the Kids Internet Design and Safety Act (the “KIDS Act”). One of the Senator’s introducing the KIDS Act, Mr. Edward Markey, was the co-author of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). The KIDS Act seeks to include noteworthy advertising rules and create new protections for children online, specifically for online users under the age of 16. The proposed advertising rules within the KIDS Act are to ban websites from: (1) exposing young online users to advertisements “with embedded interactive elements”; (2) recommending any content involving alcohol, nicotine, or tobacco to young online users; and (3) recommending content that includes influencer marketing, like unboxing videos, or host-selling to young online users. Additionally, the KIDS Act seeks to prohibit certain online features to protect children, like prohibiting

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