GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) -
Every day kids are surfing the web, subscribing and liking things on Facebook. But did you know third parties can watch their every move by saving information they're looking up online?
A new proposal is looking to put stricter online privacy guidelines in place. It's all because third parties can target anything kids can look at, including their personal information.
Congress passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 long before mobile devices and mobile apps such as Angry Birds.
The Federal Trade Commission proposal wants to require parental consent to gather information about kids under 13. It's a move Upstate Defenders for Children board member Rick Floyd believes will help protect kids in the new era of technology.
"Today, kids have cell phones that can go online. They can now do everything they used to do on a computer, so now instead of being on a couple hours in the evening, they can be on it 24 hours a day," said Floyd.
The FTC had proposed some changes last September, but expanded those this week after receiving some feedback. The FTC is accepting comment on the new version until Sept. 10. The rules could go into effect after that.
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