New kids online privacy rules: Released
The FTC for the first time in over fifteen years has made a move to strengthen the online privacy of underage children, especially on sites like those of Google, Facebook, and even Twitter — however Facebook and Google won’t have to monitor things like their apps, or Google’s Google Play.
A judge in the case ruled that each of these services, including FB’s ‘Like’ button is exempt from the privacy crackdown due to not always knowing if an app is violating specific rules or regulations regarding privacy.
“The industry definitely did the best it could to lobby to water down the FTC’s proposed updates. But what was interesting is that they all took that lobbying in different directions – each group wanted someone else to have the responsibility. The app developers passed the buck to the app stores. The app stores passed the buck to the advertisers. In the end, no one in the industry at all was willing to step up and take responsibility for protecting kids,” said James Steyer, CEO and founder of advocacy group Common Sense Media. “Fortunately, the FTC struck an appropriate balance.”
