[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 52 (Tuesday, May 2, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E616]]
       ENACTMENT OF THE CHILDREN'S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 2, 2000

  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize the enactment of the 
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The Act requires 
operators of World Wide Web sites to obtain verifiable parental consent 
before collecting, using, or disseminating information about children 
under 13 years of age.
  Representing a Congressional District which contains many of the 
world leaders in E-Commerce has given me a first hand opportunity to 
view the importance of privacy online. Consumers will not partake in 
business online without full assurance that their personal information 
will remain private. Though children are frequently more Web adept than 
their parents, they often lack the judgment and experience to deal with 
requests for their personal information, especially those request made 
from strangers. COPPA gives notice to both Web sites and parents of 
their responsibilities to protect children's privacy.
  The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act prohibits unfair and 
deceptive acts in connection with the collection and use of personal 
information from and about children on the Internet. It will serve to 
enhance parental involvement in a child's online activities, protect 
the privacy of children in the online environment, maintain the 
security of children's personal information collected online and limit 
the collection of this information without parental consent. Failure to 
follow the guidelines of the Act will result in fines in excess of 
$10,000 and the possible closure of the Web site.
  This act directly follows the five core principles of privacy 
protection, set forth by the FTC, which represent `fair information 
practices': (1) Notice/Awareness; (2) Choice/Consent; (3) Access/
Participation; (4) Integrity/Security; and (5) Enforcement/Redress. 
While the online industry has made great strides in protecting consumer 
privacy online, we need government intervention to assure the privacy 
of children.
  A March 1998 FTC survey of 212 commercial children's Web sites found 
that while 89 percent of the sites collected personal information from 
children, only 24 percent posted privacy policies and only one percent 
required parental consent for the collection or disclosure of 
children's information. No parent would allow their child to wander the 
streets giving out their personal information to strangers, yet the 
aforementioned survey illustrates that this occurred continually over 
the World Wide Web prior to COPPA. With COPPA we have taken one large 
step towards putting parents back in charge of their children's 
personal information online.
  We must continue to encourage parents to become involved in their 
children's online activities. Though the Web contains wonderful 
resources, there are also people online who prey on children and COPPA 
presents a useful tool to stop this from happening. COPPA provides one 
important part of the solution to ensuring children's privacy and 
safety online, parental involvement and filtering tools such as Net 
Nanny can provide others. Net Nanny, one of the many high-tech firms 
found inside of my district, offers software that allows parents to 
regulate their children's online activities. Software of this sort lets 
parents choose the sites their children can visit, further bolstering 
parental control over their children's privacy.
  COPPA may impose an increased cost on commercial children's Web 
sites, but these sites must realize that ensuring children's privacy is 
an essential part of their business. COPPA will provide an incentive to 
the industry to self-regulate, through self-regulatory watch dog groups 
such as BBBOnLine, TrustE and the Children's Advertising Review Unit of 
the Council of Better Business Bureaus, so as to ward off future 
government intervention in the industry.
  As a strong advocate of personal privacy, whether in the realm of 
banking and financial transactions or the World Wide Web, we must 
assure consumers that they have full control over their personal 
information. With no Constitutional protections over the sharing of 
personal information to third parties, in both the financial world and 
online, Acts such as COPPA and the Banking Privacy Act (H.R. 1929), 
which I introduced, are necessary safeguards of our privacy. Americans 
have a right to privacy in regards to their personal information, and I 
recognize the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act as enhancing 
this right.