The Federal Trade Commission today said that the rapid-fire pace of technological change, including an explosion in children’s use of mobile devices and interactive gaming, has led the agency to accelerate its review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule) to make sure that it is still adequately protecting children’s privacy. Although the…
Category: Youth & Schools
Geo-tagging teen sexually assaulted in North Van
Katie Mercer reports: Police are warning parents about Grindr, a geo-tagging smartphone application, after it was allegedly used in the sexual assault of a 15-year-old North Vancouver boy. Brent Tynan, 54, of Vancouver faces charges of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and sexual assault. North Vancouver RCMP say the teen allegedly met Tynan through…
Kentucky Parents Win Records Access
Parents have an “absolute right” to inspect all educational records relating to their children, including e-mails exchanged between teachers and administrators, the Kentucky attorney general’s office has concluded. The issue arose when Jonathan Sholar, of Princeton, Ky., sought access to all records pertaining to his daughter, whether hard-copy or electronic. The Caldwell County school district…
Feds Say Judge Hampering Webcam Spy Probe
David Kravets reports: Prosecutors are claiming a federal judge is hampering a criminal investigation into a webcam scandal at a Philadelphia suburban school district. The evidence prosecutors are seeking is connected to a federal civil lawsuit in which plaintiff’s lawyers claim the Lower Merion School District secretly snapped thousands of webcam images of students using…