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Call to increase online data protection for teens
Less data collection on social networking sites please...

By Stefanie Olsen

Published: Thursday 10 April 2008

The rules that limit websites and marketers from collecting data on children under 13 may spread to teens as old as 18 if a group of child advocates has its way.

The group - which includes the American Academy of Pediatrics, Children Now, and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD)- plans to ask the Federal Trade Commission this week to establish rules that will help protect teens from data collection and targeted marketing while they socialise on sites like MySpace and Facebook.

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If heeded, the proposal could put a crimp in social networks' plans to tailor online advertisements to teenagers' behaviours. Facebook, for example, may use data on its members to send a targeted ad, according to the company's privacy policy.

According to a copy of the letter seen by silicon.com sister site CNET News.com "We ask that the FTC...recommend adoption of voluntary industry guidelines that define 'sensitive data' to include the online activities of all persons under the age of 18 and prohibit the collection of sensitive information for behavioural advertising purposes."

Sensitive data refers to contact information for a person, such as an email address or home number, as well as the web surfing habits of that person.

The letter will be delivered to the FTC tomorrow to meet a deadline for comments on the Commission's proposed privacy standards for interactive marketing. The FTC has suggested the industry regulate itself by disclosing to consumers any intention to collect information about them for the purpose of targeting ads, and obtaining their consent to do so, among other rules.

But the CDD and others want the FTC to go further by expanding the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa) to cover teens between 13 and 18 years old. Coppa, which went into effect in 1999, requires that websites ask for parental permission before they can collect any personal data about a child, among other stipulations.

The letter said: "Although adolescents are more sophisticated consumers than young children are, they face their own age-related vulnerabilities regarding privacy. Adolescents face enormous pressures to socially interact online - providing personal information in the process - and are less able to understand the potential long-term consequences from having their information available to advertisers, other individuals, and third-parties."

Facebook addresses some of this concern in its privacy policy. It states teens between the ages of 13 and 18 should ask their parents before using the social network, and that it does not knowingly collect data on children under the age of 13. But as with most social networks, adults are free game.

According to its privacy policy: "Facebook may use information in your profile without identifying you as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such as aggregating how many people in a network like a band or movie and personalising advertisements [on Facebook]."

The CDD also wants the FTC to clarify Coppa so it prevents websites from collecting data on the surfing habits of children to target ads to them.

Jeff Chester, executive director of the CDD, said his group and others are trying to bring the FTC up with the times.

Chester said: "The Commission still has a late 1990's understanding of online marketing. This filing is to help the FTC recognise they must ensure children and adolescents' privacy is protected in the age of Facebook and MySpace."