WHY COPPA MATTERS TODAY
In today's "internet of things" COPPA is even more relevant than when it was first introduced in 1998 when the internet was still in its infancy. Think of all of the children's toys on the market that allow interconnectivity. Toy companies need to think about this above and beyond their website.
"VTech Electronics, a maker of electronic toys, has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission that it collected personal information on hundreds of thousands of children without their parents knowing. The allegations were based on technical requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regarding how parents must be notified “and how companies must verify that the consenting person is the parent,” VTech spokeswoman Kaleigh Steinorth said in an email. “We have taken steps to ensure compliance with these technical requirements.”"
Los Angeles TImes, February 15, 2018
"Advocacy groups say marketing to children directly on their smartphones — where companies can collect data on users and tailor ads to specific consumers — raises a number of concerns, not just about privacy but also about the kind of influence those ads may have on children.
“As adults, we might think it’s a little weird or creepy if we’re getting targeted ads that follow us from site to site,” said Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “Kids, though, are especially vulnerable because they have no understanding of what those ads are or why they’re seeing them.”
Nearly 1.5 million children age 11 and under have active Snapchat accounts, according to data from eMarketer, which expects continued double-digit growth in coming years. (Snapchat requires that users be at least 13.)"
The Washington Post, August 13, 2018
Although the U.S. COPPA regulations are not nearly as stringent as the GDPR regulations in the EU, which were inplemented in May of this year, is it too much to ask U.S. comapnies comply with local regulations? Come-on marketers and advertisers - it may make sense to try and target these younger users, but at what cost? Do we not have a duty, especially those of us in the toy business, to protect and care for our youngest and most vulnerable consumers?