Markey, Barton Circulate Do Not Track Kids Draft

Bill would prohibit use of kids', teens' personal info for third-party targeted marketing

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/6/2011 12:48:54 PM

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has circulated a discussion draft of his kids online do-not-track bill, co-sponsored by Joe Barton (R-Tex.) that would make it illegal to use kids' or teens' personal information for targeted marketing and require parental consent for online tracking of the info.
 
Markey had promised the bill was coming. According to Markey's office, the bill "amends the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to extend, enhance and update the provisions relating to the collection, use and disclosure of children's personal information and establishes new protections for personal information of children and teens."
 
Still up for discussion, according to a Markey staffer on background, is how much of the bill's new requirements and prohibitions would apply to teens up to 17-years-old. COPPA's online protections currently apply to kids, but not teens.
 
But the idea behind extending at least some of those to teens is the explosion of new, particularly mobile, media for accessing the Web, according to the Markey aide.
 
Markey plans to introduce the bill "very soon," said the staffer.
 
The key elements of the bill include:
 
"Requiring online companies to explain the types of personal information collected, how that information is used and disclosed, and the policies for collection of personal information;

"Requiring online companies to obtain parental consent for collection of children's personal information;

"Prohibiting online companies from using personal information of children and teens for targeted marketing purposes;
 
"Establishing a "Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens" that limits the collection of personal information of teens, including geolocation information of children and teens;
 
"Creating an "Eraser Button" for parents and children by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate publicly available personal information content when technologically feasible."
 
The full draft can be read here.
 
The draft comes the same day Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) announced he is introducing his own do-not-track bill.