The Federal Trade Commission has signaled that it will not
be postponing the July 1 deadline for companies to come into compliance with
changes in its rule enforcing the COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act).
The Digital Marketing Association, the National Association
of Broadcasters, the Motion Picture Association of America and others hadasked the FTC to delay implementation from July 1 to Jan. 1, 2014, saying
they needed more time to implement the changes.
But earlier this week, the
FTC began sending letters to companies advising them of the July 1 deadline
and what they needed to do to comply.
In December, theFTC unveiled the final version of the FTC's proposed changes and updates,
which includes bringing geolocation, cookies (plug-ins), online user names, and
photos, videos, and audio of kids into the definition of personal information
that can't be collected without parental permission, and brings behavioral
targeting explicitly within the rule. It also makes websites responsible for
third-party collections.
Companies also have to ensure that any third
party receiving information can protect it and its confidentiality and is
abiding by new rules on how it can be kept and stored.
