Groups ask regulators to stop the online tracking of children

A coalition of public interest groups and privacy advocates has endorsed a proposal from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that would protect children from unauthorized tracking online.

The groups, including the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), the Benton Foundation and World Privacy Forum, support the agency's recommended updates to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) aimed at curbing the use of cookies and other tracking mechanisms in sites targeted at children. “Given children’s limited cognitive abilities and the sophisticated nature of contemporary digital marketing and data collection, strong arguments can be made that behavioral targeting is an inappropriate, unfair and deceptive practice when used to influence children under 13,” the groups said. “At the very least, marketers should be constrained from engaging in such practices without obtaining meaningful, prior consent from parents.” (Dec 27)