With the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regulating how the information of children younger than 13 years of age is collected and used, online social networking sites have largely excluded the age group. Some, however, are specifically targeting the under-13 crowd, which involves achieving and maintaining compliance with COPPA--notably, gaining parental consent before collecting any information from children, reports paidContent. Social network Everloop verifies parental consent with a credit card number, giving parents "veto power every step of the way," from approving friends to accessing text messages, states the report. The company has also recently launched what it touts as the first COPPA-compliant SMS service. Meanwhile, one expert says social networks need a universal standard for privacy settings--consistent and recognized across all platforms and sites.
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