Information Security of Children's Data
Diana T. Slaughter‐Defoe, Zhenlin Wang · Stanford University Press eBooks · 2009
This chapter discusses the evolution of child protection and information security online. It argues that successfully protecting children' s information online requires understanding the development of children through adolescence, and acknowledging the powerful role of cultural transmission in the emergence of their cognition, personalities, behaviors, and skills. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998, which specifically addresses the collection of data about children, appears to be relatively ineffective legislation that is not adequately sensitive to developmental concerns. To ensure children's healthy development, future legislation should take into account children's developmental attributes more directly. In addition, a more successful law would empower parents in their attempts to protect their children's information, instead of diminishing parental control. Parents are naturally concerned about their children's online activity and exposure to information, but they often do not know how to protect them.