WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance Subcommittee hearing today on Children’s Privacy: New Technologies and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. 

Witness List:

Ms. Jessica Rich, Deputy Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

Mr. Tim Sparapani, Director of Public Policy, Facebook 

Mr. Mike Hintze, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation

Ms. Kathryn Montgomery, Ph.D., Professor, School of Communication, American University 

Mr. Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center

Mr. Berin Szoka, Senior Fellow & Director of the Center for Internet Freedom, The Progress & Freedom Foundation

Key Quotations from Today’s Hearing: 

“I believe in my core that all children deserve special protections. Always. Period. I am enormously alarmed by the rise in criminal behavior targeting children online, from ‘cyber-bullying’ to adult predators. These frightening trends are directly connected to the fact that our children’s sensitive, personal information is being increasingly exposed to the public. We have a responsibility to understand this rapidly changing digital landscape and to give parents the tools they need to protect their children’s privacy.”

Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV 

“The rise of new technology and social networking sites have significantly changed the Internet landscape over the last five years, and we need to make sure that our privacy laws are protecting children when they use these new tools. Today’s hearing is a learning opportunity. We need to find out whether parents are still able to guard their children’s personal information while allowing their kids to benefit from today’s emerging technology.”

Senator Mark Pryor, Chairman, U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance

“The Federal Trade Commission is deeply committed to helping to create a safer, more secure, online experience for children. As such, the agency has actively engaged in law enforcement, consumer and business education, and rulemaking initiatives to ensure that knowledge of, and adherence to, COPPA is widespread.”

Ms. Jessica Rich, Deputy Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

“If COPPA is amended, Congress could consider permitting companies to explore innovative approaches to obtaining parental consent online. Congress should ensure regulators are not discouraging technological and policy innovation in this area when reviewing privacy and security policies of companies that are trying to do the right thing.”

Mr. Tim Sparapani, Director of Public Policy, Facebook

“Microsoft fully supports COPPA’s objectives of enhancing ‘parental involvement in a child’s activities’ and protecting ‘children’s privacy by limiting the collection, [use, and disclosure] of personal information from children without parental consent.’ While children’s use of the Internet has evolved over the last decade, these objectives remain just – if not more – important today.”

Mr. Mike Hintze, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation

“With the current expansion of digital media platforms and the growing sophistication of online data collection and profiling, however, it is now critically important that the intent of COPPA be fully implemented to protect young people from new commercial practices in today’s digital media environment.”

Ms. Kathryn Montgomery, Ph.D., Professor, School of Communication, American University

“COPPA was a smart and forward-looking privacy law. It helped slow the commercialization of personal information concerning children and it promoted safety and respect for the treatment of minors using new online services. Around the edges, there are understandable questions about application and implementation. Age verification continues to be a challenge. But the central purpose – to establish privacy safeguards for the collection and use of personal information on children – is sensible and important. The critical task now is to carry forward this goal as new business practices continue to raise new privacy challenges.”

Mr. Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center

“The future of age verification battles—at least on the social networking front—will likely be fundamentally tied up with COPPA and the question of how well parental consent-based forms of age verification might work on a scale larger than COPPA’s very limited scale. It is unlikely, however, that such a framework could be easily applied on ‘Internet scale.’”

Mr. Berin Szoka, Senior Fellow & Director of the Center for Internet Freedom, The Progress & Freedom Foundation

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