SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS

From the Principal
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
Religious Education Program

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") specifically protects the privacy of children under the age of 13 by requesting parental consent for the collection or use of any personal information of the users. The Act took effect in April 2000. The Act was passed in response to a growing awareness of Internet marketing techniques that targeted children and collected their personal information from web sites without any parental notification. The Act applies to commercial web sites and online services that are directed at children.

Congress' intent in passing the Act was to increase parental involvement in children's online activities, ensure children's safety during their participation in online activities, and most importantly, protect children's personal information.

History

During the 1990s, the Internet became a major source for marketing, sales, and distribution of products and services. A growing segment of users of these services are children. By 1998, almost 10 million children in the United States had access to the Internet. The interactive nature of the Internet enabled marketers to collect personal information from children through their registration to chat rooms and discussion boards, to track behavior of web surfers through advertisements, and to promise gifts in exchange for personal information. Marketers, who collected such information about children and their families, compiled this information into files and sold it to third parties for various commercial purposes.

Dangerous list marketing abuses were also uncovered by investigative reports that heightened awareness of the power that can be exercised over individuals through the use of their personal information. CNN, on December 14, 1995, reported that look up services could be used to locate children: "There is no law on the books that prevents a stranger from calling a 900-number and getting information about your children. In fact, until a few weeks ago, a subsidiary of R. Donnelley provided a service that did just that." Additionally, a CBS television reporter was able to purchase a list of children's names using the name of a notorious killer. The San Francisco Examiner reported on May 12, 1996: "To prove how easy it is for pedophiles to obtain mailing list of kids, a Los Angeles television station reported that it obtained a detailed computer printout of the ages and addresses of 5,500 children living in Pasadena simply by sending $277 to a Chicago database firm."

In response to Center for Media Education's ("CME") request and growing public interest in children's privacy, in March 1998 the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") presented the Congress with a report addressing the lack of regulation and protection of children's information online. In July 1998, Senators Richard Bryan (D-NV) and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced 105 S. 2326, titled "The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998." Portions of that bill were incorporated into 105 H.R. 4328, a Department of Transportation appropriations bill that was enacted by Congress and signed by President Clinton on October 21, 1998. The Act became effective on April 21, 2000.

COPPA's Provisions

COPPA sets forth a framework of fair information practices governing the collection, access to, and use of personal information by web site directed to children. The Act does not apply to general audience web sites; however, operators of such sites, who have specific sections for children or actual knowledge of children using their site, must follow the COPPA regulations. Also, COPPA applies to foreign web sites that are directed at US children.

First, COPPA requires an operator to post a clear and detailed privacy policy that states the names and addresses of the web site operators, the type of information collected from children, the way such information will be used, and an indication of whether the information collected is disclosed to third parties. A link to a privacy policy must be posted in a visible place on every page where personal information is collected, and it should clearly imply that the use of the site is conditioned upon the acceptance of the privacy policy.

Second, COPPA requires a web site operator to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting any personal information from children. COPPA did not specify an exact method for obtaining such consent; however, the FTC indicated several acceptable ways for compliance with this requirement. An operator can supply consent forms to be signed and mailed or faxed to the operator, require a parent to use a credit card, have a parent call a toll-free number, or accept an email accompanied by a digital signature. Some exceptions are provided, and an operator is allowed to collect a child's information when:

• Notifying a parent and requesting consent.

• Responding directly, on a one-time basis, to a specific request from a child. In this case, an operator is allowed to collect only the child's email address, which must be deleted after its use.

• Protecting the safety of the child.

• Protecting the security and integrity of the web site.

Enforcement of COPPA

At the federal level, COPPA violations are considered to be unfair or deceptive trade practices under § 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the FTC can impose civil penalties for its violation. In order to ensure compliance with the rule, the FTC monitors the Internet and encourages complaints from parents on its web site. Violators could be liable for up to $11,000 per violation. At the state level, COPPA authorizes state attorneys general to bring actions in federal district court to enforce compliance with the FTC regulations and to obtain damages or other forms of compensation and relief.

The FTC's most recent survey, Protecting Children's Privacy Under COPPA: A Survey On Compliance, conducted in April 2002, shows that the general trend of the sites is of increased compliance, even though some COPPA provisions, such as requirements about specific disclosures, have been followed less consistently.

OLQP and COPPA

To keep our children safe, OLQP will never publish or display a child's full name, address, phone number or email address, nor will it publish or display photographs of children along with their names.

For more information on COPPA, see the Electronic Privacy Information Center