Privacy: “Lawmakers Push Bill to Protect Children from Online Data Collection”

From The Hill:

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Wednesday re-introduced companion versions of the “Do Not Track Kids Act” in the Senate and House respectively. The bills were also sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.).
“The Do Not Track Kids Act puts parents in control of their children’s information and contains commonsense protections for teenagers,” Markey said in a statement. “As we see every day the implications when personal information gets hacked, I hope the least we can do is come together on a bipartisan basis to provide a privacy bill of rights for children and minors in our country.”

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From a Statement (via Sen. Ed Markey):

The legislation updates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by expanding and enhancing rules for the collection, use and disclosure of the personal information of children 15 years and younger. The legislation establishes new protections for personal information of children and minors, including extending protections for minors aged 13, 14, and 15 from having companies collect their personal and location information without their consent. The Do Not Track Kids Act also creates an “Eraser Button” so parents and children can eliminate publicly available personal information submitted by the child, when technologically feasible.

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The “Do Not Track Kids” Act strengthens privacy protections for children and minors by:

• Prohibiting Internet companies from collecting personal and location information from anyone under 13 without parental consent and anyone 13 to 15 years old without the user’s consent;
• Prohibiting targeted advertising to children; 
• Establishing a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Minors” that limits the collection of personal information of minors, including geolocation information of children and minors;
• Creating an “Eraser Button” for parents and children by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate publicly available personal information content submitted by the child, when technologically feasible;
• Requiring online companies to explain the types of personal information collected, how that information is used and disclosed, and the policies for collection of personal information;
• Prohibiting the sale of internet connected devices targeted towards children and minors unless they meet robust cybersecurity and data security standards, which are established by the Federal Trade Commission; and 
• Requiring manufacturers of connected devices targeted towards children and teens to prominently display on the packaging of connected devices a privacy dashboard detailing to what extent the sensitive information is collected, transmitted, retained, used, and protected.

Read the Complete Statement
Direct to Full Text of Do Not Track Kids Act (41 pages; PDF)
See Also: Congressional Leaders Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill To Protect Children’s Online Privacy (via EPIC)

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