Texas Reins in Santa.com

Site agrees to protect children's privacy

December 19, 2007

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Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today reached an agreement with Santa.com that will protect the privacy and safety of children who use the California-based Web site, his office said.

The settlement ensures that Santa.com complies with the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA is a federal law that generally prohibits Web sites from unnecessarily collecting personal information from children under 13.

Under the terms of the agreement, Santa.com, which is operated by Small’s Seed Company, L.L.C., must obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children, such as names, home addresses and e-mail addresses.

The Web site also must clearly disclose how it intends to use the collected information, including whether it will be shared with third parties or other Internet users.

Santa.com also agreed not to require children to disclose excessive personal information as a precondition to participating in the site’s online games and features.

“Today’s agreement ensures that a popular children’s holiday Web site will fully comply with laws that protect young Internet users,” Abbott said. “Under federal law, Web sites that cater to young children must obtain parental consent before collecting young users’ sensitive personal information and must take steps to limit pass-through access to inappropriate content online."

Under COPPA, Web sites that cater to children must make a greater effort to ensure that parents consent before their children younger than 13 provide personal information online.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers several options for Web site operators to obtain verifiable parental consent. Among them, the FTC recommends that Web sites maintain a toll-free telephone number staffed by trained personnel for parents to call in their consent or provide a form for the parent to print, complete, sign, and mail or fax back to Web site operators.

Today’s agreement requires Santa.com to maintain a link on every page of its Web site, including its homepage, that collects children’s personal information.

The link must direct users to a disclosure statement that provides the types of personal information the Web site collects from children; how the information may be used; and whether it is disclosed to third parties. The link should inform parents that they may decline the collection and use of a child’s personal information.

Previous actions

Today’s action is Abbott’s third legal action under COPPA.

Earlier this month, the Attorney General filed enforcement actions against TheDollPalace.com and Gamesradar.com for unlawfully collecting personal information such as names, ages, and home addresses from children.

Investigators also discovered that the sites’ parental consent features were easily manipulated and circumvented. The lack of reasonable controls readily allow children to access the sites’ various features, including interactive chat rooms and forums, without their parents’ knowledge. Both lawsuits are pending.

Safety tips

Abbott reminded parents to closely monitor their children’s Internet activities by using the following safety tips:

• Teach children never to give out personal information such as their last name, birthday, home address or telephone number, especially in a chat room, over an online bulletin board, or to an online pen pal, without your permission.

• Make sure your children know never to agree to a face-to-face meeting with someone they meet online.

• Instruct your children never to respond to e-mail or chat messages that make them feel uncomfortable or from someone they don’t know. Stress that they should show such messages to you.

• Surf the Internet with your kids. If it is not possible for you to actually surf with your children, at least talk to them about the Web sites they are visiting.

• Place the computer in a public room in your home so that even when you are not surfing online with your children, you can monitor their use. Do not allow computers in a child’s bedroom or permit the use of Web cams.

• Establish ground rules for your children’s Internet usage, including the hours they may surf and the kinds of Web sites they may visit. Post the rules near the computer.

• Learn how to use parental controls and archiving features. You should be able to check your child’s e-mail account and review the sites your child has visited on the Internet.

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