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The FTC Hears More from AEP

February 2001 ? It's been nearly a year since the Federal Trade Commission enacted the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule, based on the same-named federal act of 1998. Do you really know how to meet all the rule's restrictions on collecting personal information from kids under age 13? In order to find out how the regulations are working out for publishers, the FTC recently conducted an exclusive meeting with our executive director, Charlene Gaynor, and representatives from eight AEP member organizations. (After the FTC requested the informal gathering, we sent e-mail notices inviting all members to participate earlier this month.)

AEP was among the educational groups that testified before the Commission last year as it worked to develop the COPPA rule. Since then, Gaynor says, "I believe the feedback the FTC has received showed them that the regulations were not fully understood. Now they're looking for ways to clarify any misunderstandings that might exist about the rules."

As it turns out, the issue many publishers saw as the greatest burden was laid to rest: The rule confirmed that schools can act on behalf of parents in granting permission to collect data from students. So instead of having to seek parental consent individually from each student who supplies an age or address, a publisher need only disclose once ? to the school ? what kind of data will be collected and how it will be used.

"By virtue of a school agreeing to use a product, permission has been given," Gaynor notes. "That simplifies matters quite a bit." Schools have always acted in place of parents, FTC officials said to those in attendance, so educators won't have to do anything different to meet the online privacy regulations. But the FTC asks that publishers help both parents and teachers to better understand the rule by distributing COPPA pamphlets or posting links to compliance materials. (The FTC recommends http://www.ftc.gov/kidzprivacy.)

At the meeting, publishers also questioned issues such as:

• Defining "identifiable information." Full name, address, age, phone number, and e-mail each qualify, the FTC says. (But Commission officials advise using common sense in deciding which combinations of these items constitute identifiable personal information.)
   
• How to respond when a child makes the initial contact. (If a student sends a contest entry or letter to the editor, for example, the site may collect the personal data once, but may not keep it.)
   
• Whether information collected offline is subject to the same restrictions. (If the communication is offline only, the answer is no.)

FTC officials advised designing Web sites to limit the amount of personal information required from users. Sites such as Highlights.com, which is divided into a parents' side and a children's side, are heading in this direction already: here, kids must forward subscription requests to their parents.

To view the COPPA rule and compliance information, go to http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/coppafaqs.htm.

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