Providing parents with online privacy information: Approaches in the US and the UK

Abstract

Policy makers are faced with the task of ensuring that parents are offered information on children's Web sites to help them reduce their children's online privacy risks. This exploratory research compares the approaches of two countries with different regulatory philosophies regarding children's privacy: the United States, with a limited and sectoral approach to general privacy but a formalized approach to children's online privacy, and the United Kingdom, with a comprehensive overarching approach to privacy, but no formal stipulations for children's privacy. We examined privacy statements on 100 children's Web sites from each country in order to compare the products of each regulatory environment. Copyright 2009 by The American Council on Consumer Interests.