April 21, 2000 http://www.EmailAbuse.org 214-521-3700 EMAILABUSE.ORG BLASTS FTC COPPA RULING DALLAS - Online consumer protection site EmailAbuse.org announced today that the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), which went into effect today, is a misguided attempt by the FTC to protect children online. COPPA's stated purpose is to prevent the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13 unless "verifiable parental consent" is established. This consent will be ostensibly established through a number of means, including 800 numbers, e-mail, faxes and credit card numbers. "This legislation is a logistical nightmare," said Jennifer Widstrom, Director of EmailAbuse.org. "Companies will have to devote excessive, costly resources to comply with this legislation, while indirectly encouraging children to lie about their age. Many children are going to magically have their thirteenth birthdays today." EmailAbuse.org does not encourage collecting any personal information from children. In order for a mailing list to obtain "EmailAbuse.org Certification" it cannot collect any information from children under thirteen other than their e-mail address. "The only way a child's privacy will be protected is if nothing is collected from them, period." said Widstrom. "This legislation is well-intended, but we feel it misses the mark in protecting children's privacy. Most companies will determine that it is unfeasible and/or too costly to obtain parental consent on every form filled out by a child, and not allow children to access their web sites. Alternatively, children can just lie about their age and access these sites anyway." "The government can't force parental involvement in their children's online activity. We feel this legislation will cause little real change, and may only mask more serious issues." EmailAbuse.org provides up-to-date information and resources to help people prevent and fight back against email abuse. The organization has also established its own free certification program to help the online community understand and implement email privacy procedures.