Lindsey Tonsager writes:
The FTC staff has posted revisions to three Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) related to obtaining verifiable parental consent under its COPPA Rule. For a comparison of the old and new FAQs, click here.
Although the changes (which include a new FAQ H.16) may appear substantial, they mostly reaffirm the FTC’s longstanding position that the agency’s list of approved verifiable parental consent mechanisms is not exhaustive and that companies can implement different methods as long as they meet the statutory standard of amounting to a “reasonable effort (taking into consideration available technology) . . . 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.” 15 U.S.C. § 6501(9).
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