Yelp recently agreed to pay a $450,000 civil penalty for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). According to the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) press release, the company violated the act by knowingly collecting personal information from app users who were under the age of 13. COPPA compliance efforts typically focus on companies with websites and apps that are directed to children. Yelp’s app publishes crowd-sourced reviews about local businesses. Not your typical kid app. So, why was Yelp investigated?
COPPA gives parents control over what information websites can collect from their kids. If you run a website designed for kids or have a website geared to a general audience but collect information from someone you know is under 13, you must comply with COPPA’s requirements. In Yelp’s case, consumers who registered for Yelp during 2009 – 2013, were asked to provide their date of birth during the registration process. According to the complaint, several thousand registrants provided a date of birth showing that they were under the age of 13. Yelp allegedly collected information from these children, including, their name, e-mail address, and location, as well as any information that they posted on Yelp.
Yelp’s failure to implement a functional age-screen in its app, thereby allowing children under 13 to register for the service, has cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars – not to mention the time and expense associated with deleting the information that it collected from young Yelpers.
That is not to say that your company cannot collect information from users under the age of 13. However, if you do so, you should consider the following steps:
Step 1: Post a Privacy Policy that Complies with COPPA.
Step 2: Notify Parents Directly Before Collecting Personal Information from Their Kids.
Step 3: Get Parents’ Verifiable Consent Before Collecting Information from Their Kids.
Step 4: Honor Parents’ Ongoing Rights with Respect to Information Collected from Their Kids.
Step 5: Implement Reasonable Procedures to Protect the Security of Kids’ Personal Information.
See the FTC guide on COPPA or contact an attorney familiar the act, with for more information about compliance.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute or be used as general legal advice, or as a solicitation of any type.