Internet giants such as Facebook, Google and Apple could soon be allowed to advertise to children, as new US laws look set to come into force.
The Federal Trade Commission has updated the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to restrict advertisers from accessing the personal data of children under 13 years-old without parental consent.
The regulators exempted app purveyors such as Apple’s App Store and Google Play from having to police apps. Providers of plug-ins such as Facebook with its “Like” button were also exempted.
According to the new rules, they will only be responsible if they have “actual knowledge” that an online service or app is not complying with the new rules governing how they are allowed to collect information from kids.
Rule changes that the FTC proposed in August would have made the tech giants more responsible for apps that violate the rules. But the tech companies engaged in heavy lobbying efforts in recent months to dial back the proposals, arguing they would stifle innovation and hamper economic growth.
The new rules stipulate that a child’s computer’s unique IP address cannot be collected without consent, as well as photographs, location data, video and audio files. The updated regulations are designed to protect children’s data in today’s age of smartphones and social networking:
“The Commission takes seriously its mandate to protect children’s online privacy in this ever-changing technological landscape,” explained FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz in a statement to Reuters. He said the new regulations struck “the right balance between protecting innovation that will provide rich and engaging content for children, and ensuring that parents are informed and involved in their children’s online activities.”
However, Facebook bases its advertisements on online behaviour rather than personal information. “Contextual advertisements” analyse things like status updates and “Likes” to target products directly to people’s profiles. Adverts tailored to behaviour do not require parental consent.
It means that, should Facebook be able to comply with the other restrictions laid out in the COPPA, it would still be able to advertise to children.