A flurry of social media news stories hit the airwaves this past week from Google, Facebook and Snapchat. Here are the ones most of interest to parents and educators: Snapchat: The Federal Trade Commission has apparently been wanting Snapchat to be much clearer about just how ephemeral its disappearing messages really are. The Commission filed a complaint and reached a settlement with Snapchat … [Read more...] about A little social media news roundup
FTC
FTC on mobile privacy: Now offering ‘guidance-plus’
The overall message from the Federal Trade Commission to mobile app developers has moved from guidance to what I'd call guidance+. The guidance appears to be growing teeth. The commission, which enforces COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), reached a settlement with Path, a social network site and mobile app that agreed to pay an $800,000 penalty in response to the FTC's charges … [Read more...] about FTC on mobile privacy: Now offering ‘guidance-plus’
The new, revised COPPA
The US Federal Trade Commission's revisions to the COPPA Rule announced today (12/19/12), are aimed at syncing up a rule mandated by a 1998 law with today's technology and with "the way children use the Internet, mobile devices and social networking," the FTC says in its press release. For example, the personal information that services cannot collect from children under 13 without parental … [Read more...] about The new, revised COPPA
FTC still not satisfied with kid app privacy
Only 20% of the 400 children’s apps the FTC analyzed "provided disclosures about their data collection practices," the New York Times reported today – and the apps that did linked to long, dense privacy policies that few users could comprehend. The Federal Trade Commission's announcement does not surprise; it's an update of the Commission's report last February (see this). But it says "little or … [Read more...] about FTC still not satisfied with kid app privacy
Today’s Net, kids & COPPA: Our comment to the FTC
A US law about children's online services can really only regulate US-based children's online services. It might influence foreign regulators but it has no jurisdiction over sites and services based outside the US and can't stop US users from leaving compliant services and going to noncompliant ones outside the US (or in it, for that matter). So, by the global nature of the Internet, there's no … [Read more...] about Today’s Net, kids & COPPA: Our comment to the FTC