TL;DR:

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing to tighten up the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
• This move is in response to tech firms surveilling children through certain legal loopholes in the original COPPA.
• The FTC intends to make it harder for companies to collect and use personal data of minors.
• The proposed changes support stricter regulations to protect children’s privacy on the internet.

Article Summary

In a welcome move, the FTC is stepping up its game and cracking down on Internet companies that target and exploit minors. As it stands, COPPA protects kids under 13, mandating parental consent before any information of children this age is collected or used online. However, it seems certain tech firms have found loopholes in the act and are now under scrutiny.

The FTC has proposed new adjustments to COPPA. While the specifics are yet to be outlined, the amendment aims to close these loopholes and clamp down on any tech giants willing to bend the rules. The goal remains to safeguard the rights of minors in the digital world, limiting the degree to which their personal data can be exploited.

Thoughts

The move by the FTC to fortify COPPA is one that I am in total support of. In a world where data is king, it’s disturbing how even minors can easily fall prey to the predatory activities of certain tech companies. It’s high time that this egregious exploitation comes to a halt.

I’m also interested in seeing how these measures will be implemented. Will it affect online advertisers? Or content creators? If you have thoughts about this, drop a comment below.

References

Source: TechCrunch