The Federal Trade Commission has requested commentary from an Entertainment Software Rating Board application in relation to a new procedure used to obtain parental consent under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule. Comments from the public may be submitted until Aug. 21, and will become available on Regulations.gov, according to a July 19 news release.
“Under the COPPA Rule, online sites and services directed to children under 13 must obtain parental consent before collecting or using personal information from a child,” the release reported. “The Rule lays out a number of acceptable methods for gaining parental consent but also includes a provision allowing interested parties to submit new verifiable parental consent methods to the Commission for approval.”
The COPPA safe harbor program’s operator, the ESRB is working in collaboration with digital identity company, Yoti and SuperAwesome, who assists businesses with parental verification requirement compliance, the release reported.
The companies have requested permission to use “Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation” technology, which confirms if a user is an adult by measuring their geometry, according to the release
“Facial Age Estimation is a machine-learning technology that analyzes the facial geometry from a person’s photo to estimate his or her age,”a recent JD Supra report said, according to the release. “According to the application, the technology can correctly estimate that someone is an adult 99.97% of the time.”
The Federal Register notice issued by the FTC questions whether the new method fulfills the requirements of the COPPA law, and whether it would pose a privacy risk to consumers’ personal and biometric information, according to the release. The agency is expected to provide a written decision regarding the matter by Sept. 30 of this year.
“The FTC can approve a new mechanism if it is ‘reasonably calculated, in light of available technology, to ensure that the person providing consent is the child’s parent,” the release reported.
