The operator of a Web site billed as a “Facebook and Myspace for Kids” agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that he violated the FTC's Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule by collecting personal information from 5,600 children without obtaining prior parental consent.
Jones O. Godwin, the operator of www.skidekids.com, is also charged in the FTC's complaint with making deceptive privacy policy claims about its information collection practices.
The proposed settlement will bar future violations of COPPA and misrepresentations about the collection, use and disclosure of children’s information.
The FTC’s COPPA Rule requires that Web site operators notify parents and obtain their consent before they collect, use or disclose personal information from children under 13.
COPPA also requires that Web site operators post a privacy policy that is clear, understandable and complete.
According to the FTC, Skid-e-kids is a social networking site targeted at children ages 7-14 that allows them to register, create and update profile information, create public posts, upload pictures and videos, and “friend” and send messages to other Skid-e-kids members.
The FTC alleges that the Skid-e-kids’ online privacy policy claimed that the site “requires child users to provide a parent’s valid e-mail address in order to register. We use this information to send the parent a message that can be used to activate the Skid-e-kids account, to notify the parent about our privacy practices, to send the parent communications either about the parent’s and child’s Skid-e-kids accounts or about features of our Web site . . .”
The complaint alleges that the defendant registered children on the Web site without collecting a parent’s e-mail address or obtaining permission for their children to participate.
Children who registered were able to provide personal information, including their date of birth, e-mail address, first and last name and city.
In addition to violating the COPPA Rule by collecting kids’ personal information without parental permission, the FTC alleged that the Skid-e-kids’ false privacy policy claims violated the FTC Act.
The settlement order also requires Godwin to destroy information he collected from children in violation of COPPA, and, for a period of time, link to online educational material and retain an online privacy professional or join an FTC-approved safe harbor program to oversee any COPPA-covered Web site he may run.
The settlement also imposes a $100,000 civil penalty, all but $1,000 of which will be suspended if Godwin provided truthful information about his financial condition and complies with the order’s oversight provision.
