Disclosure must include:

1. What information is being collected or tracked;

2. How the information is being collected or tracked; for example, through on-screen survey, questionnaire, contests, sweepstakes entries or through server-based navigational data tracking and browser files.

3. How the information will be used;

4. Who is collecting the information, their relationship to the information and how they can be contacted;

5. Who will have access to information including their commercial interest in the information.

6. Effective disclosure requires that the disclosure be easy to understand, compelling, and prominently displayed from the perspective of a child.

7. Disclosure language must be appropriate for children (e.g. level of vocabulary)

8. Disclosure language must be easily read (e.g. size, placement, other visual characteristics), and if possible, also audible to children in the online medium.

9. The disclosure must directly precede and be on the same page as the collection or tracking practice.

10. Contrary claims will undercut the effectiveness of disclosure and must not be present.

1. If information is collected from children through passive means (e.g., navigational tracking tools, browser files, etc.) this should be disclosed to the child and the parent along with what information is being collected. If the information is collected through an active mechanism (e.g. on-screen survey), CARU does not require disclosure regarding what information is being collected.

2. If information is collected from children through passive means (e.g., navigational tracking tools, browser files, etc.) this should be disclosed to the child and the parent along with what information is being collected. If the information is collected through an active mechanism (e.g. on-screen survey), CARU does not require disclosure regarding what information is being collected.

3. The advertiser should disclose whether the information is intended to be shared, sold or distributed outside of the collecting advertiser companyThe advertiser should disclose why the information is being requested. If the information is optional, and not required to engage in an activity, that fact should be clearly disclosed in language easily understood by a child. The advertiser should clearly disclose what use it will make of this information, if provided.

4. CARU does not address this issue.

5. The advertiser should disclose whether the information is intended to be shared, sold or distributed outside of the collecting advertiser company.

6. The advertiser should disclose, in language easily understood by a child , why the information is being requested. If the information is optional, and not required to engage in an activity, that fact should be clearly disclosed in language easily understood by a child. The advertiser should clearly disclose what use it will make of this information, if provided.

7. The advertiser should disclose, in language easily understood by a child , why the information is being requested. If the information is optional, and not required to engage in an activity, that fact should be clearly disclosed in language easily understood by a child.

8 CARU guidelines do not address size, placement, other visual characteristics, or audio transmission.

9. CARU does not address this issue.

10. CARU does not address this issue.

1. This is incorrect. CARU's Guidelines (Data Collection #2) state "The advertiser should disclose why the information is being requested and whether the information is intended to be shared, sold or distributed outside of the collecting advertiser company." CARU's current definition of the "reasonable efforts" standard enunciated in the Guidelines states, "In all cases, the information collection or tracking practices must be clearly disclosed." The same document continues "For other identifiable information, such as email addresses, first names, hometown, the company must directly notify the parent of the nature and intended uses..." CARU addresses collection through an active mechanism.

2. The "reasonable efforts" definition emphasizes that in all cases the information collection or tracking practices must be clearly disclosed....For instance in the case of passive tracking, the notice should be on the page where the child enters the site". CARU uses passive tracking merely as an illustrative example, not the only situation. (also note Data Collection, #3)

3. CARU's guidelines emphasize in detail how information use is to be disclosed.

4. In terms of the question of who, CARU's general children's advertising guidelines (which also apply to electronic media), Disclosures and Disclaimers, #6, states "in cyberspace...the name of the sponsoring company and/or brand should be prominently featured..." As far as CME's mention of "relationship to the information", the guidelines Data Collection, #2 states "the advertiser should disclose...why the information is being collected...and whether the information is intended to be shared, sold, or distributed..." The "reasonable efforts" definition adds that the company "must clearly disclose the nature and intended uses of the information along with the means of collecting or removing the information." CARU addresses these issues.

5. CARU addresses this issue.

6. CARU provides that all language directed to children must be easily understandable by children. As for placement, CARU's Guidelines are to be overlaid on the broader industry standards which address this.

7. CARU addresses this issue in both its basic Guidelines (Disclosures and Disclaimers #1) as well as its section for Interactive Media.

8. CARU's Disclosures and Disclaimers #1 states that disclosures "should be clearly worded, legible, and prominent. When technology permits, both audio and video disclosures are encourages, as is the use of demonstrative disclosures." Additionally, it states that its Guidelines are to be overlaid on the broader industry standards which do address these issues. CARU addresses this issue.

9. CARU's current "reasonable efforts" definition states "in the case of passive tracking, the notice should be on the page where the child enters the site". CARU addresses this issue.

10. CARU takes the position that a specific privacy policy disclosure takes precedence over the kind of standard legal boilerplate CME/CFA references. If a claim was truly contradictory, it would fall within the scope of the Federal Trade Commission's deception doctrine and U.S. law.

Aggregate and Anonymous Information

1. The same disclosure provisions described above also apply to the collection of aggregate and anonymous information.

Parental Consent

1. Information collectors/trackers must obtain valid parental consent whenever personally-identifiable information is collected from children.

2. The child must understand that s/he needs to get parental permission before proceeding and the parent must receive complete disclosure (as described above).

3. Access to those areas of the site where information is collected or tracked must be conditioned on receipt of valid parental consent;

4. The burden is on the collector/tracker to obtain valid parental consent through writing or other electronic mechanisms.

1. Advertisers to children who collect identifiable information online should make reasonable efforts, in light of the latest available technology, to ensure that parental permission is obtained.

2. Before asking children for information about themselves or others, advertisers should remind children to ask a parent for permission to answer the information gathering questions. Parental receipt of disclosure is implied but not an explicit condition of access.

3. Advertisers to children who collect identifiable information online should make reasonable efforts, in light of the latest available technology, to ensure that parental permission is obtained. Parental consent is implied but not an explicit condition of access.

4. Advertisers to children who collect identifiable information online should make reasonable efforts, in light of the latest available technology, to ensure that parental permission is obtained.

1. CARU's "reasonable efforts" definition elaborates on this, saying "for...personally identifiable information...the company must obtain prior parental consent, regardless of intended use." The Guidelines go on to recognize the impact of available technology on ensuring this permission is obtained.

2. CARU questions how under any instructions, such as those recommended by CME , can make a child "understand" the need to get permission. However, CARU recognizes the importance of encouraging communication between parent and child. And in the case of collecting identifiable information, the "reasonable efforts" definition emphasizes that the company "must obtain prior parental consent" and "must clearly disclose the nature and intended uses of the information."

3. CARU's "reasonable efforts" definition emphasizes that the company "must obtain prior parental consent" in such cases.

4. CARU's "reasonable efforts" definition emphasizes that the company "must obtain prior parental consent" in such cases, placing the burden on the collector/tracker in light of the latest available technology.

Collection & Use of Information

1. Parents must be able to correct information already collected about and from their children.

2. Parents must be able to prevent the further use of their children's information after it has been collected.

Scope of the Guidelines

1. CME/CFA guidelines address deceptive and unfair collection and tracking practices involving children under age 16.

2. CME/CFA guidelines govern collection and tracking practices for "commercial marketing purposes" which is defined as practices that include, but are not limited to those that:

promote, sell or deliver goods and services through direct sales pitches, brand awareness-building campaigns, and other similar marketing strategies; perform market research; foster the promotion, sale or delivery of goods and services though the sale, rental, compilation, or exchange of lists; or delete and add individual children, members of their families, other household members, and other persons the child knows to the lists.

2. CARU does not address this issue.

1. CARU guidelines apply to Internet and online advertising to children under 12.

2. CARU guidelines apply to "advertisers." Those who do not advertise or market a product or service for children yet still collect information from children (such as a market research firm) are not "advertisers" and would fall outside of the scope of the CARU guidelines

2. In addition to the above, in Data Collection, #8, it states, "...there should be an opportunity with each mailing for the child or parent to choose by e-mail to discontinue receiving mailings." CARU addresses this topic.

1. CARU's jurisdiction was determined to be confined to children under 12 to harmonize it with the provisions of the Children's Television Act and other Federal legislation.

2. In the introduction to the new section on Interactive Electronic Media, CARU specifically defines advertising for the purposes of this section as including making a sale or collecting data. Therefore, the Guidelines apply to all areas where privacy concerns are raised.

Enforcement

1. Conduct inconsistent with the guidelines could result in corrective action by the FTC under Section 5, if, after investigation, the Commission has reason to believe that the behavior falls within the scope of conduct declared unlawful by the statute.