COPPA: Protecting Children's Personal Information on the Internet

Journal of Law and Policy Volume 10 | Issue 1 Article 4 2002 COPPA: Protecting Children's Personal Information on the Internet Danielle J. Garber Follow this and additional works at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/jlp Recommended Citation Danielle J. Garber, COPPA: Protecting Children's Personal Information on the Internet, 10 J. L. & Pol'y (2001). Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/jlp/vol10/iss1/4 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at BrooklynWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Law and Policy by an authorized editor of BrooklynWorks. GARBERMACRO.DOC 2/22/02 4:03 PM COPPA:* PROTECTING CHILDREN’S PERSONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET Danielle J. Garber** INTRODUCTION Privacy in the information age is increasingly being sacrificed as the collection of information explodes.1 The Internet2 can * Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6505 (Supp. IV 1998). This Act was passed as part of Pub. L. No. 105-277 on October 21, 1998. The COPPA should not be confused with the Child Online Protection Act (“COPA”), which has consistently failed to pass constitutional muster. See ACLU v. Reno, 217 F.3d 162, 168-69 (3d Cir. 2000) (affirming a preliminary injunction based on the likelihood of finding the COPA unconstitutional because it places an “impermissible burden” on speech protected by the First Amendment), cert. granted sub nom. Ashcroft v. ACLU, 121 S. Ct. 1997 (2001). Essentially, the COPA was enacted to regulate the dissemination to minors of indecent material on the Internet. See id. The notion of indecency was determined by whether the material published on the Internet was “harmful to minors.” Id. In order to identify material that is harmful to minors, the COPA relied on “contemporary community standards” in the context of the Internet. Id. The COPPA, on the other hand, applies only to the collection of children’s personal information and does not limit access to inappropriate sites, such as pornography. See 15 U.S.C. § 6502. ** Brooklyn Law School, Class of 2002; B.S., Cornell University, 1999. The author would like to thank her family, Steve, Sandy, and Jacki Garber, and her friends, for their unconditional love and support. 1 See infra notes 34-41 and accompanying text (providing statistical information on information collection on the Internet). 2 “The Internet is a decentralized, self-maintained networking system that links computers and computer networks around the world, and is capable of 129 GARBERMACRO.DOC 130 2/22/02 4:03 PM JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY instantaneously offer immeasurable amounts of information.3 Once connected, the computer is transformed into an interactive world, enabling users to reap the benefits and enjoy the thrill of being online. Today, approximately seventeen million teenagers between the ages of twelve and seventeen use the Internet.4 quickly transmitting communications.” ACLU v. Reno, 217 F.3d at 168 (providing a general overview of the Internet and the World Wide Web). It has further been described as “an international network of interconnected computers.” Heather Miller, Strike Two: An Analysis of the Child Online Protection Act’s Constitutional Failures, 52 FED. COMM. L.J. 155, 157 (1999). The World Wide Web is distinguished from the Internet in that it consists of millions of individual Web sites, all of which are part of the larger and more comprehensive Internet. See ACLU v. Reno, 217 F.3d at 168. Each distinct Web site is connected to the Internet through protocols that “permit ‘the information to become part of a single body of knowledge accessible by all Web visitors.’” Id. at 169 (citing American Libraries Ass’n v. Pataki, 969 F. Supp. 160, 166 (S.D.N.Y. 1997)). The World Wide Web is the most common way for computer users to access information on the Internet. Id. at 168. 3 The Internet seems to have taken on the role that the encyclopedia once played in a child’s life. For example, a child who needs information to write a school report on Thomas Jefferson can find a plethora of biographical and historical information on the Internet. See, e.g., The Internet Public Library, Presidents of the United States (“POTUS”), at http://www.ipl.org/ref/ POTUS/tjefferson.html (last visited Nov. 17, 2001). The Internet is also a valuable resource for information on wild animals. See, e.g., Cheetah Conservation Fund, http://www.cheetah. org (last visited Nov. 17, 2001). Not only can a child obtain information on the cheetah at this Web site, but this site offers additional links to numerous other sites, such as Defenders of Wildlife and the African Wildlife and Conservation Resource. Id. Furthermore, the Internet allows children to participate in their studies on a new level. This is clear at the Cheetah Conservation Fund Web site, which offers children the opportunity to adopt a cheetah to further the organization’s conservation efforts. Cheetah Conservation Fund, at http://www.cheetah.org/ adopt.htm (last visited Nov. 17, 2001). 4 Amanda Lenhart & Lee Rainie, Pew Internet & American Life Project, Teenage Life Online, at http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Teens_ Report.pdf (June 20, 2001) [hereinafter Teenage Life Online] (reporting on the widespread use of the Internet by teenagers and their parents’ responses). Research completed in December 2000 found that 45% of all American children under the age of eighteen use the Internet. Id. at 12. The survey showed that the average age that these children began using the Internet was GARBERMACRO.DOC 2/22/02 4:03 PM CHILDREN’S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT 131 Twenty-nine percent of children eleven years old or younger go online.5 This widespread use is easily explained by the extensive opportunities the Internet offers for learning, entertainment, creativity, and communication with others. Children use the Internet to get help with their homework, browse various Web sites, and play and download games.6 The most exciting activity for children is communicating with their friends through chat rooms, bulletin boards, e-mail and instant messaging.7 Despite thirteen. Id. 5 See id. Teenagers go online from a variety of locations, and most go online from home. Id. (reporting that 83% of the 754 teenagers surveyed access the Internet from home). Other common locations include school, a friend’s house, and the library. Id. In 1999, 11.4 million children, twelve years old and under, used the Internet. Lyne Burke, Kids’ Privacy an Act, or Action?, WIRED NEWS (Apr. 20, 2000), at http://wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,35712,00.html (discussing the potential problems imposed by the COPPA). This figure is expected to escalate to 24.3 million by 2003. Id. Also, in 1999, it was estimated that 62% of children between the ages of eight and fifteen use the Web. Miller, supra note 2, at 159. 6 See Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), Privacy Online: A Report to Congress, available at http://www. (...truncated)