Consumer, Health, Religious, Parents and Privacy Groups call on FTC to Protect Kids Privacy and Update COPPA Rules

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 13, 2012

50+ ADVOCACY GROUPS CALL FOR UPDATES TO KIDS’ ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTIONS

WASHINGTON, DC and SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A broad coalition of child advocacy, health, parents, privacy, and consumer organizations—including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association, the American Psychological Association , US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Consumers Union — has released a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to express strong support for proposed updates to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA was passed by Congress in 1998, and is designed to enable parents to decide how and whether Internet companies and operators can collect and use personal information from their children under the age of 13.

The FTC is considering the first updates to the COPPA rules, which were established in 2000. Since then, dramatic changes in the online and mobile world, and sophisticated new data collection and marketing practices, have undermined the ability of parents to make meaningful decisions for protecting their children’s privacy and safety. Recognizing those changes, the coalition letter describes the proposed updates to the COPPA rules as “not only essential, but also urgent.”

The letter and list of co-signing organizations can be found at www.democraticmedia.org.

In addition, in three separate petitions organized by Public Citizen (link is external), Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (link is external), and Common Sense Media and the Center for Digital Democracy (link is external) over 10,000 petitioners have shown support for the FTC’s plans to update COPPA and keep parents—and not companies—in control of their children’s online data.