Agencies Release New Tools to Protect Kids’ Online Privacy
Broad use of Internet technology by young people requires industry and government efforts to establish online trust by parents and kids, privacy advocates from inside and outside the government said Friday. The FCC and the FTC unveiled tools to educate families about online safety, and the FTC plans to release a review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) next month.
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Broadband can bring “a wave of unprecedented opportunity” for children, though “seizing the opportunities of broadband requires that we confront the issues of privacy,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. The commission added an online security and privacy webpage to its Consumer Help Center site: www.fcc.gov/consumers. The FCC said it plans to add multimedia content on several topics, like conducting safe Internet transactions, tips for using the Internet abroad and cybersecurity tips for small businesses.
Parents are worried about the information their children are sharing online, “how secure that information is and who might be collecting it and for what purpose,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. Some companies have done well to protect consumer privacy, “but overall the industry needs to step up to the plate on self-regulation,” he said. If efforts don’t improve, the next Congress may “write more prescriptive rules,” he said.
The FTC has brought nearly 30 data security cases the past seven years, Leibowitz said. The agency’s review of COPPA may include policy recommendations and “some minor changes to the regulations themselves,” he said. The trade commission also upgraded its online guidebook, Net Cetera, to a multimedia toolkit. It includes videos, slides and discussion guides to help parents, educators and law enforcement officials, the agency said.
Interagency coordination is important, Genachowski said. Agencies shouldn’t develop their own education plans for parents, kids and small businesses, “and then distribute similar, but … inconsistent information,” he said. The FTC and FCC are tackling privacy through a joint task force and they're also working with the Department of Education, he said. The Education Department will create a new chief privacy officer position, said Deputy Secretary Anthony Miller. The official will serve as a senior adviser to the secretary “on all policies and programs related to privacy, confidentiality and data security,” he said.
There’s a disconnect between how the technology industry views privacy and how parents and kids do, Common Sense said in a study released at the National Press Club news conference. “Parents in general do not trust that the technology industry alone will protect our kids’ privacy,” said Common Sense CEO James Steyer. Of about 2,100 parents polled by Zogby International in a survey Common Sense commissioned, 75 percent reported that social networks aren’t doing enough to protect children’s information, the study found. It found parents want Congress to update privacy laws, Steyer said. He said an updated framework should require a formal opt-in mechanism for parents and privacy ratings from independent third parties, “so the average citizen can look at a site and understand what the privacy policies of that site are.”