How Safe are Safe Harbors? The Difficulties of Self-Regulatory Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Programs

• In Event: Children, Adolescents, and Media: Research Escalator 2

Abstract

While the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the primary administrator of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Section 312.11(a) of the Rule allows for industry groups or other organizations to apply for a safe harbor status (Federal Trade Commission, 2013b). In short, the safe harbors establish self-regulatory guidelines for meeting COPPA compliance and participants in the harbors are usually subject to these guidelines and disciplinary procedures rather than official FTC protocol. Reviewing the publicly available information about safe harbors, this paper critically analyzes the difficulties in assessing the efficacy of self-regulatory COPPA oversight programs and makes policy recommendations for increasing the transparency of how safe harbors review and regulate websites directed at children. The paper is structured as follows: (1) an analysis of safe harbors’ policies for the collection, storage, and utilization of children’s data over time; (2) an examination of currently existing criticisms of safe harbors; (3) identification of additional criticisms of safe harbors; and (4) recommendations for practices that would help in measuring the role of safe harbors in protecting children online.

Author

• Brandon Golob, U of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication