| Comment Number: | 514511-00084 |
| Received: | 2/14/2005 4:55:46 PM |
| Organization: | Electronic Privacy Information Center |
| Commenter: | Lillie Coney |
| State: | DC |
| Agency: | Federal Trade Commission |
| Rule: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Docket ID: | 3084-AB00 |
| Attachment: | 00084.pdf Download Adobe Reader |
Comments:
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is a public interest research center established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues as they related to information technology and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values. EPIC has a particular interest in the issue of children’s privacy. EPIC was the first organization to bring this issue to the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. EPIC also testified before House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime on children’s privacy and the proposed Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in 1996 and specifically addressed the issue of parental consent. EPIC has also communicated its concerns regarding the regulatory process set out by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding compliance with the rules for the management of information on children under the age of 13 who engage in online communication. Recently, EPIC led a coalition of children’s privacy advocates to lodge a complaint with the FTC regarding Amazon’s web site practices as they relate to the collection and use of information about children. Our comments today are limited to the proposal by the FTC to weaken COPPA and allow website operators and online service providers to obtain parental consent for the collection of personal information from children for internal use by means of an e-mail message. Lillie Coney Associate Director Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) 1718 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20009 (p) 202-483-1140 x 111 (f) 202-483-1248