August 5, 1999

(202) 434-4143
Millar@khlaw.com

HAND DELIVERY

The Secretary
Federal Trade Commission
Room H-159
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20580

Re: Children's Online Privacy Protection Rules/Comment P-994504

To the Secretary:

On behalf of Mars Incorporated, we appreciated having the opportunity to participate in the July 20, 1999 public workshop in the above-referenced proceeding to address the question of "verifiable parental consent." It was very useful for all the panel members to be reminded that the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) includes several important exemptions to this requirement. The workshop participants described a variety of technologies which might be used to obtain "verifiable parental consent" in circumstances where it is required. As we said at the workshop, and as the Commission itself has recognized in its initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RFA), COPPA establishes a performance standard in this regard. The Act defines the term "verifiable parental consent" to mean:

. . . any reasonable effort (taking into consideration available technology), including a request for authorization for future collection, use, and disclosure described in the notice, to ensure that a parent of a child receives notice of the operator's personal information collection, use and disclosure practices, and authorizes the collection, use and disclosure, as applicable, of personal information and the subsequent use of that information before that information is collected from that child (emphasis added) .

Panel members outlined a variety of technical means, such as, but not limited to, the use of credit cards in connection with a transaction, various forms of "e-mail plus," and many others which appear to satisfy the language of the statute. We believe the task of the Commission under COPPA is to approve all "reasonable means" as defined in the statute; only means which are manifestly unreasonable should not be recognized.

We again appreciated the opportunity to participate in this important proceeding.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheila A. Millar

cc: Toby Levin