ACT Meets with Silicon Valley Kids Apps Developers

Today I will be meeting with mobile app developers as the featured guest at today’s Silicon Valley Apps for Kids meet up. Bill Martin, of SmarTots, will lead a discussion with me about the critical questions of COPPA and Analytics for Kid’s Apps. COPPA is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a law which the FTC is seeking to update in a way that may pose challenges to app makers.

ACT has been meeting with developers around the country to highlight effective ways to protect mobile privacy. Working with groups like Moms with Apps and PrivacyChoice.org, ACT is working to help developers understand how to update their privacy policies and mobile strategies. These efforts have helped app makers recognize the business practices attracting the attention of federal regulators and to anticipate possible changes in the legal landscape.

ACT has long been working with Congress and the Administration on their efforts to update COPPA. The app marketplace emerged well after the passage of COPPA in 1998, and we fully support the extension of these child privacy protections into the mobile space. We have cautioned regulators, however, about the potential negative consequences from overly broad provisions and continues to work with the FTC to bring a measured clarity to its rules changes.

We’ve been pretty busy in this regard. ACT testified about COPPA at the House Commerce Committee hearing in October, before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committee hearings in May, and filed comments with the FTC. Its guidance on mobile privacy issues has been sought by the Administration, the FTC and Congress as Washington considers a variety of ways to address online privacy.

A link for the Silicon Valley Apps for Kids event today is here.