As COPPA Turns 20, What’s Next for Children’s Privacy?
Monday, October 29th, 2018The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act became law in October 1998, and the Federal Trade Commission promulgated its rule concerning the law in the next couple of years. It has been 20 years of ups and downs for privacy protection for children’s data. There continue to be numerous privacy challenges for parents seeking to safeguard their children’s personal information.
As soon as they are born and are issued identification numbers, children face the risk of identity theft. Such thefts can be undetected for years, until a young adult has reason to use her Social Security Number for a loan or credit card. We have schools tracking children (and college students) with camera surveillance systems or RFID-enabled school uniforms or ID cards. Some schools started using biometric ID systems for students to pay for their lunches. There are concerns about tracking apps such as ClassDojo, which can be used by teachers and parents to monitor students’ progress.
The FTC marked the 20th anniversary by noting it has made changes to its Rule over the years: “by amending the Rule to address innovations that affect children’s privacy – social networking, online access via smartphone, and the availability of geolocation information, to name just a few. After hosting a national workshop and considering public comments, we announced changes to the Rule in 2013 that expanded the types of COPPA-covered information to include photos, video, or audio files that contain a child’s image or voice.” Read more »