from either arizona republic, arizona star, tucson citizen
New federal rules on Internet privacy allow, e-mail permission to query kids
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government laid out new rules for protecting kids' privacy on the Internet yesterday, allowing companies to send e-mail to parents seeking permission to ask children questions but only if the information is not shared with other companies.
The rules are designed to tell companies how to comply with a new federal privacy law that bans them. from collecting personal information from children without a parent's permission.
One of the most contentious provisions involved a compromise allowing businesses for the next. two years to send e-mail to parents.
E-mail is the most convenient and immediate method for granting permission, but it's also simple to impersonate another person online - especially for kids who often know more about technology than their parents.
The new rules from the Federal Trade Commission, approved 4-0, are expected to have a dramatic impact on hundreds of popular Internet sites aimed at children,
which typically offer online games and entertainment in exchange for personal information valuable to marketers.
Catherine Benjamin a mother of two young children in Rolling Meadows, Ill., called the law "long overdue" and bristled at how easily children online can be persuaded to disclose even the most personal details.
"It scares us," said Benjamin, who recently warned her 12-year-old niece about these risks. "Children just give out information on the Internet. There's a lot of wonderful opportunities on the Internet ... (but) it can become a dangerous tool."
The FTC will begin enforcing the new rules in April.
The FTC said Web sites that share children's information with other companies must obtain a parent's permission through mailed or faxed paperwork, calls to a tollfree number, through use of a credit card number or via e-mail using nascent digital signature technology.
the webmaster says the government wants to flush the constition down the tolit to protect the children from dirty words on the internet and maybe even a dirty picture.