Fergie's Tech Blog

FBI Pairs With Website Violating Law To Make Kids Safer

Ryan Singel writes on 27B Stroke 6:

The FBI has set up a masterful site called Safe Online Surfing to help kids learn how to use the internet safely. Via a scavenger hunt, children get to learn that its okay to talk about Disney characters online at the Privacy Falls challenge on Surf Swell Island and get online tips from the Miami Hurricanes website and finally are directed to take an Internet test at the Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation.

Now, what's great isn't that the final Internet quiz actually tests you on whether you know how to become an FBI Special Agent (Sample question: What do you say to a female applicant who says she's not strong enough to bust down doors?)

What's great is that the Common Knowledge site violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which mandates that any site collecting personal information on a child under the age of 13 must get verifiable consent from a parent. While Common Knowledge claims to be in compliance with COPPA, I was able to register as a 12 year-old (First name: Vulnerable, Last name: Child Address:123 TouchMe Way). Registration requires a name, an address, a phone number, a date of birth, an email address, your school name, and your extra-curricular interests just to take an online quiz. While I was required to add my parent's email address, the site never sent an email to that address, let alone complied with the law requiring the site to get a parent's verifiable consent. The site's legitimacy is only burnished by having its domain registered to a post office box and running Yahoo! ads on the front page.

posted by Fergie @ 10/20/2006 02:02:00 PM