CDD Takes Issue With iKeepSafe

The Center for Digital Democracy has asked the Federal Trade Commission to reject the application of iKeepSafe to run a safe harbor program for companies that want to demonstrate their compliance with Children's Online Privacy Protection Act restrictions on collecting and sharing personal info via child-directed Web sites.

CDD says iKeepSafe fails to provide the same or greater protections as the COPPA rule, using permissive language - "should" -- -rather than mandatory language --"must," "required." It also says the proposal does not clearly define child-directed sites. CDD also takes issue with ikeepSafe's plan to have a third party, PlayWell, assess compliance with the voluntary guidelines, saying it has provided no evidence that either it or PlayWell has the skill or technical expertise, and in PlayWell’s case the staff, to enforce the safe harbor.

The COPPA Rule allows companies that want to be considered de facto in compliance to do so through a safe harbor program that monitors that compliance. "[T]he FTC should reject iKeepSafe’s application, or require amendments and clarifying submissions from the company," said CDD, which is a leading voice for protecting kids privacy online," CDD told the FTC.