COPPA: Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Filing

July 1, 2010 For those mumbling, "COPPA schmoppa, there goes Amy into policy wonk land, please translate media jargon into usable tidbits" I'll offer a few primers... What is COPPA? Why do we need it? (see DigitalAds.org for an interactive show-n-tell which all ages can grok for an 'aha' moment on food and beverage marketing targeting kids in the digital age) Who are … [Read more...]

Iger the Ignorant? Disney Chief Says Kids Don’t Care About Privacy?

July 24, 2009 Hey, kids, did you know the mouse house thinks it’s okay to mine your personal information and sell it to advertisers to make a buck off your back without your permission? Wonder what Maine legislators that just banned data mining of minors will say to that?  (h/t to Ypulse and Privo!) Reuters reports Disney CEO Robert Iger is bullish on direct web … [Read more...]

Privo Privacy Vault: How Safe is Kids Digital Data? Part 2

July 14, 2009 Yesterday in my Part One preamble to the interview with Privo executives, I tried to give an overview of how 'kids online safety' is more than 'balancing safety and fun' it's politics, it's opportunistic marketing, it's regulatory, and...it's complicated. With dogged tenacity here's my attempt to sort out how to keep kids safe online (for parents, as well as … [Read more...]

Keeping Kids Safe From Predators (er, Marketers) Part One

July 13, 2009 Since researcher Sara M. Grimes opened up the conversation on data mining and privacy practices for us, I’d like to keep the focus on this important topic for a sec, because I DO believe we can use media and marketing to impact kids in favorable ways, and have founded our entire organization on that premise to sift out the sludge and elevate the possibility. … [Read more...]

Childrens’ Digital Privacy Advocates Show FTC Watchdogs Aren’t Woofin

June 18, 2009 Here we go again. I'm beginning to feel a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day having deja vu that we've 'been there done that' all over again.  Oh, that's right. We HAVE. Over a decade ago, Jeff Chester, executive director of Center for Digital Democracy played a leading role in the passage of COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998)...Since … [Read more...]