These Italian guards seem to take their job pretty seriously. I suppose watching over the Coppa del Mondo will do that to you. We are the same way with our customers’ information. We are working on a new casual online game soccer game launch with a partner and the issue of online privacy and kids once again came up. We make sure our entire team understands and appreciates the seriousness of privacy. When it comes to kids, it’s worth noting some additional points.

We Follow COPPA

In the United States there are some pretty specific rules concerning the collection and use of personal information of kids 12 and under. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to website operators who knowingly attract or target users under the age of 13. The law requires parental consent before website or game companies can collect personally identifiable information from children, or allow children access to activities where such information could be disclosed. It only gets more complicated when you factor in privacy concerns for other regions like the EU.

Many game companies elect not to include a COPPA provision in their privacy policies. Instead, they explicitly deny access for children under 13. It really appears to be a business decision where different game companies make different choices.

COPPA Provision or No?

Having said that, it’s fair to say that allowing children to play an online game and participate in the associated online community while having a COPPA provision with reasonable opt-out measures is probably superior to denying access to children under 13. Imagine if you find out that you have information for children under 13 on your servers. Merely having a EULA/TOS provision that denies access to children under 13 does not prevent that. Then you might be left with a team or procedures that are not prepared to deal with the situation. We feel its better to have language that allows for that possibility and helps protect you.

In the end, it is a business choice and either answer is valid. However, acknowledging that children under 13 are going to play your games is more realistic. Having the COPPA language in there offers you protection in that area - and also gets your staff ready to deal with any issues if they arise. Honestly, we are still trying to settle on a preferred solution here.

Oh, if we run a game rated M or AO (or similar website) , everything just said goes out the door. If we were aiming at a more adult audience, there are legal and practical reasons to restrict access.

Some Additional Resources

We are always monitoring what’s new when it comes to privacy issues. Check the following sites we use…

Kidz Privacy (http://www.ftc.gov/kidzprivacy)

OnGuard Online (http://onguardonline.gov/socialnetworking_youth.html)

Entertainment Software Rating Board – ESRB (http://www.esrb.org)

By the way, we aren’t lawyers - so remember always consult with a lawyer. Hope this helps!

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 7:11 pm and is filed under Blog, Privacy, Support. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.