Information Technology Acts Paper

BIS/220
Jan 30, 2014
Rod Maxson

Information Technology Acts Paper
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 1998

According to www.coppa.org, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) states that it is “unlawful for an operator of a website or online service directed to children, or any operator that has actual knowledge that it is collecting personal information from a child, to collect personal information from a child in a manner that violates the regulations prescribed under section (b).” Wikipedia notes that it states “when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect children's privacy and safety online including restrictions on the marketing to those under 13.” To summarize its purpose, it demands that all children under the age of 13 have a right to privacy on websites, and that websites are not allowed to collect any personal information without prior consent of the parent or guardian. Although children can give information after receiving parent consent, many websites avoid this altogether because of the hassle involved. The act was created in 1998, well after the invention of the Internet. However, because the Internet was quickly becoming much more popular and frequently used, the risk of personal information being leaked was also becoming more frequent. This advance in information technology necessitated the creation of COPPA. With more children using the Internet and potentially sharing private personal information, many parents became concerned thereby encouraging the creation of this act.

Children’s Internet Protection Act (2000)

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) “requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the United States use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for the