The FTC recently made headlines for imposing a massive fine on a mobile gaming company. The company had violated COPPA, which governs the personally identifiable information companies may collect from children 12 and under.  What hasn't been in the news so much is the fact that COPPA itself is currently under review (and has been for more than a year).

FTC hosted a roundtable more than a year ago to discuss potential changes to the COPPA rule.  You can read my summary of the roundtable here.  The comments closed last June, and then....crickets...until a bipartisan group introduced the "Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011" in the House (HR 1895).  According to one of the co-authors (Congressman Markey, who was an originator of COPPA), this new legislation is meant to update and strengthen COPPA.

Of course, this bill has to go through subcommittee purgatory before being finalized. There will be a few months of hearings, markups, and then a vote before it goes anywhere, but anyone in the technology sector needs to be aware of some key changes that are being proposed in the bill:

• Extends COPPA-type data collection provisions up to age 18 (creates new "minors" category)
• Prohibits targeted marketing to anyone under age 18
• Includes IP address as "personally identifiable information"
• Proposes an "eraser button" for users to delete their own content/information
• Adds new wording to cover "online applications" and "mobile"

These changes seem innocuous on their face, but certainly impose challenges on anyone who creates software or applications (web or mobile-based), particularly if their customers have kids as their primary audience.  (Note that non-profits are excluded from COPPA coverage.)

We will definitely be staying on top of the developments, and passing along any important changes that could affect our customers.