Not Child\u27s Play: Compliance with the Children\u27s Online Privacy Protection Rule

The FTC regulates how Web site operators collect personal information from children based on the requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has developed voluntary guidelines that businesses can use to assist them in achieving compliance with COPPA. Businesses that comply with the guidelines are deemed to be in compliance with COPPA and thus shielded from FTC sanctions. Costs of compliance may be high, so some Internet business models that target children may no longer be viable. Any business that does not target children but that collects birth date information from its customers must have a procedure for rejecting information from anyone under age thirteen