Social Media Week Hits New York This February

Social Media Week begins February 17-21st 2014 in New York City. Industry experts will descend on Manhattan to discuss how new technologies and media platforms are shaping our lives and the marketing world. This year's schedule offers tons of events and ways to network, collaborate and learn from big brands and professionals.

Sign up quickly because many events are already filling up--including a panel CARU will be speaking on, "Advertising and Legal Issues in Social Media: How to Get it Right." The panel will address practical implications of utilizing social media and advertising in the self-regulatory world. Click HERE for more information about this panel.

This year’s notable speakers include Buzzcar’s Robin Chase, Founder of Zipcar; Steve Case, Founder & CEO of Revolution and Founder of the Case Foundation; John Borthwick, CEO of betaworks; Eli Pariser, CEO of Upworthy; Scott Heiferman, CEO of Meetup; Cindy Gallop, Founder of MakeLoveNotPorn; Jonah Peretti, Founder of & CEO of BuzzFeed; Nancy Lublin, CEO of Do Something; Douglas Rushkoff, author of “Present Shock”; Harper Reed, CEO, Lunar Technology Corporation and many more.

Keep up with Social Media Week on Twitter @SocialMediaWeek. For more information and to learn about all the events, click HERE.

20 Years Young: The History and Maturing of COPPA in a Privacy-Conscious Age

1998: A Concern for Children’s Privacy Was Born From the moment home computers had the capacity to connect to the Internet, children had the ability to use these technologies to access online websites and services. In the 1990s, concerns about children’s privacy and safety online arose amid fears of marketing practices around selling children’s personal information and exposing children’s information to predators. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), founded in 1974, has always been on the forefront of safeguarding children’s privacy. CARU is the self-regulatory arm of the children’s advertising industry, tasked with promoting truth in children’s advertising by reviewing and evaluating child-directed ads in all media to ensure they are truthful, accurate and appropriate. CARU also monitors online privacy practices as they affect children. Before there was any legislation on the matter, CARU monitored a burgeoning Internet and observed how children’s privacy and sa...

After Review, CARU Finds Snapchat Compliant with COPPA

In a recent decision, CARU found Snap Inc.’s (Snap) Snapchat app to be compliant with both the CARU Guidelines and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). “The company goes beyond minimal procedures to prevent under-age use” CARU stated. CARU determined that Snapchat is an app directed to a general audience, not intended for use by children. In reaching this conclusion, CARU considered that Snap’s Terms of Service clearly prohibit users under 13 years of age and makes no effort to market the app to children or provide them with an appealing user experience. With that understanding, Snapchat is permitted under the Guidelines and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) to age-gate and block children under 13 from using its services, which it does. CARU then examined whether Snapchat does so effectively. CARU observed that Snapchat utilizes age-gates and many safeguards to ensure that if children manage to breach the existing age-...

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...

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