FTC Seeks Comment on Proposed Changes to COPPA

verified photo identification or "Face Match to Verified Photo Identification" (FMVPI), the FTC said in a news release. Under COPPA, certain website operators must post privacy policies, provide notice, and obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children under the age of 13. “The proposed FMVPI method provides businesses with more flexibility and effectively ensures that it is a parent providing consent by combining photo identification verification with facial recognition technology via web and mobile devices,” Riyo Director Tom Strange said in a June letter to FTC Secretary Donald Clark. The proposal differs “substantially from existing methods enumerated in Section 312.5(b) [of COPPA] because it uses computer vision technology, algorithms, image forensics and multifactor authentication to validate a parent's identity and provide assurance that the parents' identity credentials are rightfully being used for the provision of [verified parental consent],” the letter said. Riyo’s proposed method protects consumers and empowers parents making decisions about their child’s digital activities “by affording them enhanced obscurity and privacy of their personal information when compared to existing methods,” the letter said. The FTC on Friday sought comment by Sept. 3 on whether the proposed parental consent method is reasonably calculated to ensure the person providing consent is the child’s parent and whether the program “poses a risk to consumers’ information and whether that risk is outweighed by the benefits of the program,” the release said.