Update Urged on Children’s Online Privacy

Aiming to catch up with fast-churning technology that touches children’s lives every day, the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday proposed long-awaited changes to regulations covering online privacy for children.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or Coppa, was enacted over a decade ago, long before the advent of social media and smartphones. It requires companies to obtain parental consent before collecting any personal information about a child under the age of 13.

The proposed revisions expand the definition of “personal information” to include a child’s location, along with any personal data collected through the use of cookies for the purposes of targeted advertising. It also covers facial recognition technology. Web sites that collect a child’s information would be required to ensure that they can protect it, hold onto it “for only as long as is reasonably necessary,” and then delete the information safely.

The F.T.C. also suggested that parental consent should no longer be obtained through a two-step e-mail and authorization process, but through alternate methods, like getting scanned versions of signed consent forms and videoconferencing.

The commission said revisions to the law were required in light of “an explosion in children’s use of mobile devices, the proliferation of online social networking and interactive gaming.” Its chairman, Jon Leibowitz, described children as “tech-savvy, but judgment-poor.”

Parental dilemma: Whether to spy on their kids

For many parents, one of the toughest decisions is whether to spy on a child's computer and cell phone activity. It's common for some children to send more than 100 text messages a day, and a recent Associated Press-MTV poll found that about one-quarter of teens had shared sexually explicit photos, videos and chat by cell phone or online.

Walsh, the Minneapolis psychologist, says the best initial step for parents concerned about online risks is a heart-to-heart talk with the child, with monitoring used as a contingency measure only if there's clear justification.

"If it does make sense to use some spyware, I would never do that in secret way," said Walsh, whose own three children are now adults. "Tell your children you'll check on them from time to time. Just that knowledge can be effective."

Mary Kozakiewicz disagrees, saying deployment of spyware must be kept secret.

"You can't let them know it's there, or they'll do it at a friend's house," she said.

Indeed, one of the challenges for some parents is a technology gap — their children may have more savvy about cyberspace and an ability to thwart various spyware tactics.

Children should be taught importance of
privacy in mainstream education, ICO says

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said that it was important for children to learn about data privacy and freedom of information (FOI) rights, and that both "should be embedded in the formal education process".

The ICO is responsible for ensuring organisations comply with UK data protection laws, FOI laws and regulations on privacy and electronic communications. It said that it was imperative that children learned about privacy after revealing the details of research into the use of social networks by students.

A survey of more than 4,000 young people showed that 88% of secondary school students and 39% of primary school pupils have a social networking site profile, the ICO said. Most respondents had not read the sites' privacy policies, almost a third did not know what one was, and nearly a quarter said they did not know where to find the information, it said.

"Young people today are growing up in an age where an ever increasing amount of information is held about them," Jonathan Bamford, head of strategic liaison at the ICO, said in a statement. "It is vital that they understand their privacy rights and how to exercise them.