This fine is the largest penalty ever issue for violators of the Children’s
Online Privacy Protection Act. Xanga, rival website to MySpace.com, allegedly
permitted 1.7 million members to register for an account and specify their
birthday, indicating they were under the age of 13. Collecting personal
information from anyone under 13 without parental consent is a violation of the
children's protection act, or COPPA, which was passed by Congress in 1998.
"Protecting kids' privacy online is a top priority for America's parents, and
for the FTC," FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said in a statement. "COPPA
requires all commercial Web sites, including operators of social networking
sites like Xanga, to give parents notice and obtain their consent before
collecting personal information from kids they know are under 13. A
million-dollar penalty should make that obligation crystal clear."
The rise in these social networking sites, such as MySpace and Xanga, has led
to a new set of Internet troubles. As I agree these sites are fun and have a lot
of benefits, I feel the companies need to be more aware of what is happening and
must implement security measures immediately to avoid issues like this in the
future. It’s a serious matter and I feel very strongly about this problem.
MySpace has led to numerous cases of sexual predators, leading off with Nathan
Contos, a 27-year-old paramedic who pleaded no contest to charges he molested a
14-year-old girl he met on MySpace.
In reaction to this issue, MySpace supposedly changed their system so adults
could not contact children under the age of 14. This, however, could easily be
bypassed when a user enters a birthday that states they are over the age of 14.
In a statement e-mailed to reporters, Xanga CEO John Hiler said the company
has addressed the alleged violations and added additional safeguards to prevent
underage children from registering on the site. "Xanga has long been committed
to making its site safer for its members," it said. "When these issues came to
our attention, we instituted a stronger, more comprehensive safety and
compliance program."
According to Xanga, they have changed their technology to screen for
appropriate birthdays, Engle said, and has enhanced other mechanisms designed to
keep young children off the site. Let’s hope that these companies continue to
implement additional security measures and consistently monitor their websites
to help eliminate troubles like this in the feature.
Our children are our pride and joy, so let’s protect them to the fullest. As
the Internet continues to grow at an increasing rate there are more predators,
terrorists, and criminals online than every before. Let’s all try our best to
create an Internet that is a safe environment for everyone.
