The Federal Trade Commission took to Twitter and hosted a chat this past Tuesday, March 6, 2018 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). CARU was honored to be the only organization asked to join in the commemorative event. As the first FTC-approved Safe Harbor, CARU has a deep understanding of the ins and outs of the law and has worked hard to ensure compliance. CARU's Director, Dona Fraser and the FTC's Acting Chairman, Maureen K. Ohlhausen discussed their work to enforce COPPA and how the law has evolved to keep up with changing technologies. Both answered questions to an audience eager to learn more about nuances of this complex law. Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts who helped author COPPA even stopped by to applaud the FTC's work to continue to ensure kids online safety.
For those less familiar with COPPA, the law imposes certain requirements on operators of websites and online services directed to children under 13 years of age, and on operators that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from a child under 13 years of age. Those held accountable under the law must obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children as well. COPPA also prohibits conditioning a child's participation on the collection of their personal information and requires security of that collection and imposes certain data retention/deletion requirements.
To review the chat, check #COPPAChat on Twitter. And don't forget to follow @CARUAdReview for more updates on what The Children's Advertising Review Unit is up to.