Texas Attorney General Targets Games Radar Website Over Child Saftey

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is suing Gamesradar.com and TheDollPalace.com in Federal District Court for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Act (COPPA).

According to Attorney General investigators, the sites unlawfully collect personal information such as names, ages, and home addresses from children. The parental consent features were easily foiled so children lacking proper parental supervision are able to access the sites’ various features, including interactive chat rooms and forums, without their parents’ knowledge.

“These defendants are charged with operating child-oriented Web sites that violate the law by failing to protect young users,” Attorney General Abbott said. “Federal law provides important protections to prevent children from divulging sensitive personal information and to shield them from inappropriate sexual or violent content online. The Office of the Attorney General will continue aggressively enforcing laws to protect young Internet users.”

What all the uproar is about:

Both Web sites violate COPPA by failing to include necessary disclosures and failing to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children. TheDollPalace.com, for example, simply asks young users who are attempting to register, “Is a parent with you right now?” Children who click “Yes” are directed to a page that allows them to simply click “OK” to vague disclosures regarding information collection and use. Gamesradar.com similarly fails to properly obtain parental consent.

I guess I would have to agree that these sites aren’t adequately protecting children from themselves in  place of parental supervision. I’m also at a loss at how any site can live up to these requirements. Children can enter any age they wish into an age gate and asking people to enter a credit card number only encourages a determined kid to swipe his parents’ VISA. Parental monitoring of children is the only good solution although it’s not enforceable by law.

via Attorney General of TX Greg Abbot: News Releases