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-...

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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