A SPATE OF NEW PRODUCTS and services has been sparked by passage of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in April. The law requires Web sites to get parental permission before collecting information about children under age 13.
ChildTracker, one of these new services, is accessible to marketers at www.childtracker.net. It stops a child from progressing beyond the point at which information is required. For example, on a Beanie Baby site, when a 10-year-old keys in “10” as his age, a message asks him to wait until his parent gives permission, then requests his and his parent’s e-mail addresses. The parent’s e-mail asks for consent, states the site’s privacy policy and provides a link to a permission slip. The child then receives an e-mail telling him either his parent has given permission or refused to give the OK.
Of course, kids can still lie about their age. “The FTC wants the vendor to show they are providing a good faith effort to get the parents involved” and this helps them get it, says Chris Woods, CEO of FollowUp.net, Westport, CT, which provides ChildTracker.
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