Summary on Legislation `CHILD PROTECTION ACT - 1966`

COPPA and the Protection Of Children

The internet has become a tremendous source of international commerce as there is virtually nothing that cannot be purchased online . Because of the untold wealth that can be accumulated when conducting business through the internet , unscrupulous individuals have decided to skirt common decency in to get an edge in the free market arena . This resulted in the rampant problem of online businesses conning children in providing valuable personal information . This enraged parents and this rage was not lost on members of congress who decided to

act on the parents and children 's behalf . As a result , congress passed the Children 's Online Protection Act (COPPA ) in the year 2000

The act , directed at commercial and service oriented internet sites , was passed in response to complaints regarding companies conducting the online collection of personal data of children for marketing purposes without parental consent . COPPA forces online businesses to comply with several regulations that include providing a clear Privacy Policy that explains exactly what information is being acquired the mandatory requirement of parental consent before collecting information from children under age 13 the mandate of compliance to any requests to revoke consent the requirement of keeping confidential any information that has been acquired informing parents of the collected information and restrictions of the collection of data from children who play online games

One of the largest companies to get fingered ' in taking part in such unsavory activities was the online commerce giant Amazon .com which had been collecting and storing data in violation of the law . Numerous complaints were d with the Federal

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Trade Commission (FTC ) and Amazon immediately dropped its phishing scheme , although the complaints against the giant have not been settled yet . However , there have been several companies that have not escaped the FTC 's wrath so easily as seen in the following statement from E-Commerce Times

The parent companies of Girlslife .com Bigmailbox .com and Insidetheweb .com settled charges that they illegally collected identifying information from children under the age of 13 on their sites (Regan

These companies did not get a slap on the wrist , as they have collectively been fined upwards of 100 ,000 for their brazen violations of the COPPA regulations . This stiff penalty dissuaded most companies from ignoring the rules and most online businesses /services remain in compliant with the law . While compliance is certainly not at 100 , the sheer volume of those collecting data has reduced dramatically in recent years . This is a testament to the success of the COPPA statute , as it not only punishes bad behavior , but it also has successfully instituted a system of deterrence that has reduced flagrant violations

If anything , COPPA has shown that the government , while not perfect in terms of how it enforces commerce regulations , will rise to the occasion when children are concerned and seek to protect their privacy and welfare . In addition , the FTC has demonstrated that it will act...