New Federal Regulations are about to take affect with the intent of preventing websites from collecting personal information about children. Currently, there are a large number of websites that collect personal data from visitors, including children, which can be used for marketing purchases. Even major corporations such as McDonald’s, Walt Disney, and Nickelodeon collect such information. This is especially concerning since these types of corporations actually target children. Examples of the information that is being collected are names, email addresses and even pictures. McDonald’s was actually storing pictures that children had uploaded on a web directory that could be accessed by the public, making it even more dangerous. Although the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 requires that parents give consent before websites can collect data such as phone numbers, email addresses or physical addresses from anyone under thirteen years old, the Internet has evolved so much since then that the law did not keep up with it. The new laws will require parental consent for collecting additional data such as pictures of children.
While the new regulations only affect the United States, this is actually a global issue. Children around the world use the Internet everyday. Connecting to Internet is no longer something that requires sitting in front of a large desktop computer within the family environment. Today, a large number of children around the world have laptops and smartphones with constant connections to the Internet. Being connected online has become pretty much a twenty-four seven activity that can and does occur anywhere, anytime. In such a world, it is difficult, if not impossible for parents to constantly monitor what their children are doing online. The Internet can be a very dangerous environment, especially for children. We need to do everything we can in order to protect them, regardless of what country they may live in. Internet safety is not connected to specific countries; it affects everyone that uses it, regardless of where they may live. Unfortunately, since the Internet does not belong to just one country, each country has to create their own regulations. These new regulations do not solve the problem but they are a step in the right direction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/technology/ftc-moves-to-tighten-online-privacy-protections-for-children.html?ref=us&_r=0
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