Markey Says He'll Seek COPPA Update Next Year
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., will target the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) for a major update in 2011 because the law hasn’t kept pace with technological change, his office told us Friday. The law’s definitions are broad enough to cover technology that has emerged since the law passed in 1998, said the Center for Democracy & Technology.
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"In the twelve years since COPPA was signed into law, entire new technologies have emerged that could put children’s safety at risk,” Markey said, according to his office. “A legislative update is necessary, and I am looking forward to introducing such legislation to bring COPPA into the 21st century.” Markey didn’t specify how the law should be changed or give a timeline for amending it in 2011. Critics have pushed for expanding it to cover those age 13-18 and devices that arrived after the law passed and for strengthening privacy protections.
Extending COPPA to cover all minors would be a big mistake, said Emma Llanso, a CDT fellow. The law focuses on websites that children use, and expanding it to cover sites directed at teens would sweep in many general interest sites such as YouTube and Hulu, she said. They would have to distinguish teen users from adults by requiring submission of a great deal of additional personal information, Llanso said. There are definitely more communication devices today than in 1998, she added, but COPPA’s definitions are broad enough to cover them. Instead of legislating more privacy protections for children, Congress should focus on strengthening baseline consumer privacy, she said. CDT raised the same concerns in comments filed with the FTC in July when the agency solicited public input on modifying COPPA, said Llanso.