Online Kids Gaming Company Agrees with CARU to Fix Age-Blocking Process

The operator of the website GirlsGoGames.com, SPIL Games, BV, has agreed to change certain of its online information collection practices in response to concerns raised by the self-regulatory group, the Children's Advertising Review Unit ("CARU"). CARU monitors websites directed to children (like the GirlsGoGames.com website) for compliance with its Self Regulatory Guidelines and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The SPIL Games site allows members to create profiles and avatars, play and rate games, make friends, and view other member profiles. The site did ask users for their age, and if an age under 13 was entered, asked users to provide their parents' email address. However, if a user indicated that he or she was under 13, they were able to complete the registration process without parental consent being obtained by simply changing their age to 13 or older. CARU was concerned that this practice violated both its guidelines as well as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. CARU was also concerned that the notice to the parent was in violation of its guidelines and the Act because it did not state that children would be able to disclose personal information with other players in the game comments area and in personal profiles. Also of concern to CARU was the fact that the site allowed users to hyperlink to social media sites, including sites that were not intended for children under 13, and did not necessarily age-screen to block children under 13. In response to the issues flagged by CARU, SPIL Games indicated that it was committed to not only children's privacy and compliance with COPPA, but also to compliance with the voluntary self-regulatory CARU guidelines. SPIL has agreed to modify its website and registration practice to: (1) install a session cookie in its age-screening process to prevent children under 13 from going back and changing their ages; (2) for under-13 members, disable the ability to post user-generated content and change the user names to pre-defined, white-listed, or randomly generated names; (3) not accept any new registrations from under-13 children in the future; and (4) remove the feature allowing member login through social media platforms and remove links to Twitter. In the event that a company does not cooperate with CARU, it will often refer the matter to the FTC for further action, especially when the matter involves COPPA compliance. The FTC has indicated that it gives priority to matters referred to it by CARU.

TIP: Companies that have age-screening on their sites during the registration process should make sure that they have technological methods in place to prevent kids from "aging up." Keep in mind that according to the FTC regulations, companies "directed to children" include those that have actual knowledge that it is collecting information from children.

This tip has been created for information and planning purposes. They are not intended to be, nor should they be substituted for, legal advice, which turns on specific facts.