Loads of Companies Are Violating Children's Privacy

Children's privacy is so sensitive that all it took for kids game Mobbles to pre-emptively pull its app last December was a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission by a privacy group. Four months later, the app, which had been accused of collecting e-mail addresses without parental permission, has yet to return. Mobbles' disappearance could have something to do with the FTC’s comprehensive overhaul of privacy rules affecting digital companies targeting kids, which will go into effect July 1. Just what exactly those changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) are is anybody’s guess. The FTC promises to clarify the updates in the form of FAQs "sometime this month," leaving companies with only 10 weeks to get in line.

That's why the Interactive Advertising Bureau filed a request with the FTC to delay implementation by six months. "It’s a complete makeover and that will take time," said Mike Zaneis, the IAB’s svp, general counsel. Even if the FTC grants the extra time, the digital kids market undoubtably will be changed. The new regulations could cause some sites and apps to drastically reduce functionality or interactivity, force others behind paywalls or drive some right out of business.