| Comment Number: | 514511-00008 |
| Received: | 2/9/2005 2:56:13 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Jim Minor |
| State: | VA |
| Agency: | Federal Trade Commission |
| Rule: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Docket ID: | 3084-AB00 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Dear Secretary Clark: As a parent of children under the age of 13, I am concerned about the safety risks posed to children on the Internet. I have spent many hours explaining to my children the risks involved and how best to keep their information safe on the Internet. To this end, I have been following the legislation directed towards these important issues. Recently, I read that the FTC was seeking comments about a proposed rule change that would allow children to offer parent’s email address as a way of notification that a child has given out their personal information. I am very concerned about this method to involve the parent in the process that was set out in the original COPPA law. The process of sending email to obtain consent is too easily circumvented by kids who are already savvy Internet users. Most kids that I know of have their own email account and can easily take the parent out of the process by using any other email address (including a friend’s or even their own!) I strongly urge you to continue to seek ways to strengthen the process so that parent’s are decidedly more involved, rather than less.