FTC Rejects Group's Request For COPPA Safe Harbor
The FTC Tuesday said it has rejected a proposal by the Internet safety education group iSAFE to operate a self-regulatory program that would allow firms that sign up for it to comply with the provisions of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
The FTC voted 5-0 to reject iSAFE's application to operate a "safe harbor" program in compliance with COPPA, which requires Web sites aimed at children under 13 to obtain parental consent before collecting information from them.
In a letter to iSAFE Chief Operations Officer Dennis Shaw, the FTC said the California-based group failed to meet the FTC's requirements for a safe harbor program. These include that the program provide "substantially similar" requirements to those included in the COPPA rule, provide an independent mechanism for assessing participants compliance with the safe harbor program and provide "effective" incentives for participants' compliance with the program.
The FTC noted that iSAFE's "proposed safe harbor guidelines do not meet the rule's requirements because they would result in lesser protections for children than provided by COPPA itself."
An iSAFE representative could not be reached for comment.
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