FTC to Sony: Hey, Record Label, Leave Those Kids Alone
by Peter Kafka
Posted on December 10, 2008 at 9:49 PM PT
Sony’s (SNE) music label will pay a $1 million fine as part of a settlement with the U.S. government in an online privacy case. The official release explaining the deal should be out Thursday, but here’s Reuters’s explanation:
The music company improperly accepted registrations on its music websites from users who were under 13, without obtaining consent from their parents, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The civil suit, which seeks unspecified monetary penalties, said Sony Music was in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. The case was brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.
A Sony BMG executive told Reuters that the litigation is in the process of being resolved, with the company agreeing to pay a fine of $1 million, to put in place a screening process that complies with the FTC rules and hire a Web compliance officer to monitor the issue.
The executive declined to be identified, saying the news of the settlement was to be officially announced by the government as early as Thursday.”
Before the blogosphere makes the synaptic leap between Sony + music + online + lawsuit and yells “ROOTKIT!,” some context: Sony isn’t the only record label to run afoul of COPPA, the 1998 law that is supposed to protect the privacy and safety of children–Universal Music Group paid a $400,000 fine in a similar case in 2004. Nor is it the only big company, period: Other culprits include Hershey’s and Mrs. Fields.
I’m not quite sure how they ran afoul, mind you–from what I can tell, COPPA pretty much requires sites that may collect personal information from kids to stick a link to a privacy policy somewhere on the page. Can someone please explain how a company could screw that up–or how such a link actually helps protect kids?
Comments
To a degree, COPPA relies on parental involvement in their children’s web-surfing activities. The thinking is that if sites provide clear notice about what information the site collects, how it gets used, and under what circumstances that information may be disclosed, parents will be empowered to make choices about what sites their kids should be visiting. Is this an appropriate policy based on the realities of how kids experience the internet? Who knows, but that’s where COPPA is coming from.
Posted by David Mazur at December 11th, 2008 at 7:21 amStatement of Dr. Kathryn C. Montgomery, who led the campaign for the passage of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), commenting on the FTC children’s privacy lawsuit announced today against Sony BMG Music Entertainment
I applaud the FTC’s actions to enforce the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The government’s lawsuit against SONY sends a strong signal to the online industry that this law must be taken seriously. COPPA was designed to protect children under the age of 13 from unfair data collection and manipulation by online marketers. Congress passed the law ten years ago to establish a clear set of safeguards and principles that were built into the foundation of the emerging digital marketplace. However, in recent years, online data collection has become increasingly sophisticated, expanding into a variety of new platforms — from social networks to mobile phones to interactive games — that are now central tools in young peoples’ their lives. In the new administration of President-elect Barack Obama, both the FTC and Congress must support additional policies that will extend COPPA’s mandate and create privacy protections for all children under the age of 18.
Kathryn C. Montgomery, Ph.D, is Professor of Communication at American University in Washington, DC.
Posted by Jeff Chester at December 11th, 2008 at 10:10 am