Do Not Track Kids Act of 2013 Would Amend COPPA

Senator Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Barton have reintroduced House and Senate versions of their Do Not Track Kids Act, which would extend the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) protections for "collection, use and disclosure of children's personal information" to teenagers 13-15.

The legislation would:  prohibit Internet companies from collecting personal and location information from anyone under 13 without parental consent and anyone 13 to 15 years old without the user's consent; require consent of the parent or teen prior to behavioral advertising to children and teens; establish a "Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens" that limits the collection of personal information of teens, including geo-location information of children and teens; create an "eraser button" for parents and children by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate publicly available personal content when technologically feasible; and require digital companies to explain the types of personal information collected, how that information is utilized, and the policies for collection of personal information.

While I am not generally in favor of stricter regulations on the digital ecosystem that may potentially put greater constraints on how Internet companies may operate, the data collection and privacy policies of some companies have crossed the line and appear to require greater legal scrutiny.  According to a recent USA Today article about digital privacy and young people, "....the NSA can tap into online data to the extent it does largely because commercial companies, led by Google and Facebook, pursue business models that treat consumer privacy as a free profit-making resource."

The bottom line is that some companies have abused their marketplace position and it appears that a legislative fix is needed to protect our children from companies that put profits ahead of privacy.

Copyright 2013 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved. 

Top Secret PRISM Program Enables U.S. Government to Access the Personal Digital Content of Internet Users

According to The Washington Post, the "National Security Agency (NSA) and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets."  These new revelations came on the heels of a report late last night that the federal government is secretly collecting vast amounts of data from Verizon phone records. 

The documents that the Washington Post has received allege that “[c]ollection (occurs) directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.”  The court approved program is called PRISM.

The NSA and FBI were created to protect our country.  I became homeless for a period of time because of the terrorist attacks in New York City on 9/11/2001.  I will never forget the American heroism I witnessed from New York's Bravest and Finest that day. 

I believe that our government should have the offensive capability to protect our citizens from future terrorist attacks.  The alleged breadth and depth of our surveillance capabilities does not surprise me.  It is possible that without these programs a dirty bomb may have already been detonated in the middle of a large American city and/or a similar large scale 9/11 style attack may have occurred.

As a society we need to determine how to properly balance the safety of our country with the personal privacy of our citizens because the decisions we make today will determine our future.  Are the proper checks and balances in place to ensure that the government does not abuse its power?  This question needs to be answered sooner rather than later.

I want future generations to experience life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness without losing their personal privacy.

Copyright 2013 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC.  All rights reserved.