ACT Offers FTC Guidance on Online Child Privacy Regulations

Today ACT submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which is seeking guidance as it rewrites regulations affecting mobile app developers. Specifically, the FTC is updating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), enacted in 1998 to protect children online. With its draft revision under consideration, the FTC is seeking to update the law to cover social media, mobile communications and other technologies having emerged since the 1990s.

While supporting the need to update the 1998 law, ACT cautions the FTC to consider its impact on the app marketplace, an industry experiencing explosive growth in an otherwise stagnant economy. The FTC should reconsider its proposed changes to definitions of personal information and take steps to ensure regulatory measures don’t disproportionately affect small businesses.

The full text of ACT’s submission is here.