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An official website of the United States government

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Here's how you know

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive
information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that
any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

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Article


PROTECTING YOUR CHILD’S PRIVACY ONLINE


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As a parent, you have control over the personal information companies collect
online from your kids under 13. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
gives you tools to do that. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer
protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule. If a site or service is covered by
COPPA, it has to get your consent before collecting personal information from
your child and it has to honor your choices about how that information is used.

 * What is COPPA?
 * Does COPPA affect the sites and services my kids use?  
 * How does COPPA work?
 * What are my choices? 
 * What if it looks like a site or service is breaking the rules? 


WHAT IS COPPA?  

The COPPA Rule was put in place to protect kids’ personal information on
websites and online services — including apps — that are directed to children
under 13. The Rule also applies to a general audience site that knows it’s
collecting personal information from kids that age. 

COPPA requires those sites and services to notify parents directly and get their
approval before they collect, use, or disclose a child’s personal information.
Personal information in the world of COPPA includes a kid’s name, address, phone
number or email address; their physical whereabouts; photos, videos and audio
recordings of the child, and persistent identifiers, like IP addresses, that can
be used to track a child’s activities over time and across different websites
and online services.


DOES COPPA AFFECT THE SITES AND SERVICES MY KIDS USE?

If the site or service doesn’t collect your child’s personal information, COPPA
is not a factor. COPPA kicks in only when sites covered by the Rule collect
certain personal information from your kids. Practically speaking, COPPA puts
you in charge of your child’s personal information.


HOW DOES COPPA WORK?

COPPA works like this: Let’s say your child wants to use features on a site or
download an app that collects their personal information. Before they can, you
should get a plain language notice about what information the site will collect,
how it will use it, and how you can provide your consent. For example, you may
get an email from a company letting you know your child has started the process
for signing up for a site or service that requires your child to give personal
information. Or you may get that notice on the screen where you can consent to
the collection of your child’s personal information.

The notice should link to a privacy policy that’s also plain to read — and in
language that’s easy to understand. The privacy policy must give details about
the kind of information the site collects, and what it might do with the
information — say, if it plans to use the information to target advertising to a
child or give or sell the information to other companies. In addition, the
policy should state that those other companies have agreed to keep the
information safe and confidential, and how to contact someone who can answer
your questions.

That notice also should have directions on how to give your consent. Sites and
services have some flexibility in how to do that. For example, some may ask you
to send back a permission slip. Others may have a toll-free number you can call.

If you agree to let the site or service collect personal information from your
child, it has a legal obligation to keep it secure.   


WHAT ARE MY CHOICES?

The first choice is whether you’re comfortable with the site’s information
practices. Start by reading how the company plans to use your child’s
information. 

Then, it’s about how much consent you want to give. For example, you might give
the company permission to collect your child’s personal information, but not
allow it to share that information with others. 

Once you give a site or service permission to collect personal information from
your child, you’re still in control. As the parent, you have the right to review
the information collected about your child. If you ask to see the information,
keep in mind that website operators need to make sure you are the parent before
providing you access. You also have the right to retract your consent any time,
and to have any information collected about your child deleted.


WHAT IF IT LOOKS LIKE A SITE OR SERVICE IS BREAKING THE RULES? 

If you think a site has collected information from your kids or marketed to them
in a way that violates the law, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Search Terms
consumer privacy
COPPA
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File
Download PDF pdf-0001-netcetera.pdf (1.88 MB)
Topics
Identity Theft and Online Security
Protecting Kids Online
September 2011
Related Items
Talk to Your Kids

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