A number of privacy organizations recently filed complaints against a several popular sites aimed at children for violating the Federal Trade Commission's privacy rules.
McDonald's, General Mills, Nickelodeon, Subway and the Cartoon Network were the focus of these complaints, as the groups say their websites carry ads that collect information - such as email addresses - for children under the age of 13, according to a report from the
San Francisco Chronicle. This, the advocates say, is in direct violation of the Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act, and they have called on the FTC to investigate the practice.
"These companies are trying to make an end run around Coppa," Laura Moy, an attorney at the Georgetown University Law Center representing the Center for Digital Democracy, told the newspaper. "They're getting kids to facilitate viral marketing campaigns."
Eduard Goodman, the chief privacy officer for
Identity Theft 911, has a blog about the way in which parents can protect their kids' privacy online by turning up all the necessary settings in their browser.
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