Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: FTC approves new COPPA verifiable parental consent method, (Nov 19, 2015)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

The FTC has approved the use of facial recognition technology as a verifiable parental consent method under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule.

Jest8 Limited, trading as Riyo, submitted a proposed verifiable parental consent method in July 2015, involving “Face Match to Verified Photo Identification,” a method that validates a parent’s face against an online presentation of verified photo identification, using facial recognition technology. According to Riyo, the new method would provide businesses with more flexibility and would effectively ensure that a parent is actually providing consent.

The Commission, in its approval letter, compared the proposed method to an existing, approved verifiable parental consent method already in the COPPA Rule—verification of a parent’s identity by checking a form of government-issued identification against databases of such information. The proposed method is more rigorous, the FTC determined, because it uses facial recognition technology to verify that the individual to whom the identification was issued is the same individual who is interacting with the system at that moment. Both methods also involve the prompt deletion of the identification information collected from the parent.

According to the Commission, the new method is “reasonably calculated, in light of available technology, to ensure that the person providing consent is the child’s parent.”

Companies: Jest8 Ltd.

News: Privacy FederalTradeCommissionNews