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How to Work COPPA'S 'Sliding Scale'February 2000 ? And now, the good news. The FTC's final rule on COPPA does introduce some welcome flexibility: Not all online communication is considered "collection" of information. Following are some relevant highlights culled from the Center for Democracy and Technology's analysis of the requirements. A child can send an e-mail requesting information, and a Web site can respond, without triggering the parental consent requirement ? as long as the site then deletes the child's e-mail address, and doesn't use it for other purposes. If a child so requests, a site can send multiple e-mails, such as a newsletter; but the site must try to contact a parent, who can then refuse future contacts with the child. Child- oriented Web sites that offer "chat" don't need parental permission if they strip off personal information before posting. (General-audience sites that ask the user's age, and can discern when their visitor is a child, must obey the same consent rules.) Chat sites also can post kids' communiqu?s as is, if they get parental consent via a secure method such as fax-back, postal mail, phone, credit card authorization, or digital signature. This relates to the "sliding scale" approach the FTC has adopted generally. If a site will use the information it retains only internally, it may employ e-mail with additional steps to assure it's a parent who's consenting. If it will disclose the information to outside parties, or allow for posting that doesn't strip off personal information, then it must use one of the more stringent methods for permission. http://www.cdt.org/privacy/cdtanalysisofftc.shtml | |||
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