When you sign up for a website and have to say you’re over 13 or enter your birth date, it’s because of a law called COPPA. This law makes sure that websites can’t collect personal information from kids under 13 without their parents’ permission. There are also state laws, like CalOPPA in California, that protect people’s online data. If websites don’t follow these laws, they can get in trouble. COPPA is a law that helps parents control what personal information is collected from their kids when they use websites and online services. The law applies to all websites and online services, not just ones for kids. To follow COPPA, websites and online services have to:
– Have a clear privacy policy
– Get parents’ permission before collecting personal information from kids
– Give parents the option to see and delete their child’s information
– Keep the information secure and only use it for as long as necessary
COPPA aims to protect kids’ personal information online. In 2013, the FTC made changes to COPPA because of new technology. They added new types of personal information that can’t be collected from kids online, like online contact info, user names, and location data. The FTC gave website operators time to follow the new rules, but now they are enforcing them. This is important for lawyers who advise website operators. Yelp, TinyCo, and BabyBus got in trouble with the government for not following rules about collecting information from kids on their apps. They had to pay big fines and promise to do better in the future. The companies didn’t have the right protections in place for kids using their apps, and one app even got taken off the app store. It’s a reminder that app developers need to be careful with all the software they use to make sure they’re following the rules. CalOPPA is a law in California that requires all websites and online services to clearly show their privacy policies. This is to let people know what personal information is being collected and who it will be shared with. It’s not just for kids, but for everyone in California. Companies like Apple, Yahoo, and Google have agreed to follow these rules for their apps. They have to let people see the privacy policy before they download an app, teach app makers about privacy laws, and make it easy for people to report apps that don’t follow the rules. CalOPPA, a law that affects online retailers and websites, had some new requirements starting in 2015. These include having a “delete button” for minors to request that their information be deleted, and not marketing certain products to minors. The law also requires website operators to make it easy for minors to delete their information and content from the site, and they must provide instructions on how to do so. While it may seem complicated, complying with these laws often just comes down to using common sense. The recent cases of enforcement show that following these laws is important, as online privacy continues to be a big issue. The FTC warned BabyBus, a children’s app maker, about potential COPPA violations. The State of California Attorney General sued Delta Airlines for not following California privacy laws. Chrissie N. Scelsi, a lawyer, is the chair of the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Section. This article is from The Briefs and is published with permission from the Orange County Bar Association.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/recent-developments-in-online-privacy-laws/
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