Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 “This legislation grew out of the fact that by 1998 roughly ten million American children had access to the Internet, and at the same time, studies indicated that children were unable to understand the potential effect of revealing their personal information online and parent failed to monitor their children’s use of the Internet.” (Koby) Due to the technology available today children of all ages have access to the internet. In the 1960’s the internet became a major source of marketing, sales, and distribution of both products and services. Unfortunately many of these services were used by children under the age of 13 years old (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 2011). Marketers were able to collect personal information from children through chat room and/or discussion board registration to track behavior of web suffers through advertisement and the promise of gifts in exchange for advertisement (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 2011). These marketers collected this information about children and their families and compiled it into files then sold it to third parties for various commercial purposes (Koby). Also discovered were dangerous list marketing abuses. Investigative reports revealed how easily this list can be purchased and the power that can be exercised over individuals through the use of their personal information. On December 14, 1995 CNN reported that look up services could be used to locate children: “There is no law on the books that prevent 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.” A CBS television reporter was able to purchase a list of children’s names using the name of a notorious killer (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 2011). On May 12, 1996 the San Francisco Examiner reported: “To prove how

References: Children 's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). (2011, September 15). Retrieved January 17, 2012, from EPIC-Electronic Privacy Information Center: http://epic.org/pricacy/kids/ Children 's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2012, from American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/ala.aboutala/offices/oif/iftoolkit/ALA Children 's Privacy Act of 1998. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2012, from Federal Trade Commision: http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm Koby, M. H. (n.d.). Children 's Online Privacy Protecion Act (1998). Retrieved January 17, 2012, from Major Acts of Congress: http://www.enotes.com/major-acts-congress/children-s-online-jpricacy-protection-act