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STRICTER ONLINE PRIVACY LAWS FOR CHILDREN Senators Edward J Markey and Josh Hawley have proposed a bill that
of targeted ads and includes what lawmakers are calling an eraser button, or a provision that gives parents the ability to remove children’s/minor’s personal data upon request. It also bans the sale of connected toys and other child-oriented devices, unless they meet security standards and have a privacy dashboard on their packaging that shows how they collect, use and secure data. The bill follows recent allegations against TikTok for violating current COPPA regulations (see the article on the previous page). Under these proposed rules, internet companies like TikTok would need to abide by more stringent privacy protections for children aged up to 15. If the bill becomes law, internet companies have up to one year to implement these regulations, including a requirement to clearly disclose their data collection.
amends the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to give children and their parents more control over their data, while further limiting data collection practices of apps and web services. The bill expands existing online protections that currently apply only to ‘children (under 13)’ to ‘minors (those between the ages of 13 and 15)’. These include prohibiting internet companies from publicly displaying personal and location information about children online. Current law requires internet companies to obtain parental consent in cases involving the collection, use and disclosure of personal data for children under 13, but changes to the COPPA law would require minors to also give their own consent before their information may be used for any purpose. With influencer marketing on the rise, social media services are under more pressure to police fake engagement in order to demonstrate real user activity and filter out those who are looking to swindle the system and shortcut fame. Twitter’s live streaming app, Periscope, is the latest service to clean up its platform. The company has revised its definition of spam to cover ‘any bulk, aggressive, or deceptive activity that attempts to manipulate or disrupt Periscope or the experience of users on Periscope’, which puts fake engagement, such as artificial hearts, chats and followers, directly in the firing line. Periscope has struggled to handle spam and other bad behaviour on its service for some time. In 2016, it rolled out real-time comment moderation, which was then updated last year so broadcasters could assign their own moderators, instead of relying on the crowd to handle reporting and banning. While these measures contributed towards reducing trolling and abuse on its service, spam – specifically, the inauthentic behaviour around
Furthermore, COPPA states that, under varying circumstances, it is unlawful for companies with ‘actual knowledge’ that a user is under 13 to collect their personal information. The proposal amends the quoted passage to ‘constructive knowledge’, with the aim of preventing internet companies from turning a blind eye to a user’s age. The proposal also bans the collection of children’s data for the purpose
PERISCOPE CRACKS DOWN ON FAKE ENGAGEMENT
fake engagement – is still an issue for Periscope. With the updated policy, fake engagement is now prohibited on its service and the company has advised users will start to see increased enforcement actions, which may even take place on ‘high-profile’ accounts. Periscope’s decision to crack down on influencer attempts to manipulate the system arrives just a few months after Instagram did the same. In
November, Instagram started removing the automated apps used by people to leave spam comments, or to follow then unfollow other users in the hopes of growing their audience. In addition, Periscope is focusing on proactive enforcement to help improve chat quality, and is soon launching what it calls ‘account-level spam reporting’ in order to enable more effective and efficient spam reporting.
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