The Arlington, VA-based BBBOnLine, a subsidiary of the Council of
Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), awarded its first Kid’s Privacy Seal to
Nickelodeon’s Nick.com, a division of Viacom International
Inc.
The Kid’s Privacy Seal is part of BBBOnLine’s Privacy Program, which assures
consumers that a Web site has committed to respecting the personally
identifiable information it gathers online.
“Nickelodeon has been at the forefront of working with policy makers and
developing online mechanisms to protect children visiting their Web site,”
said Russ Bodoff, senior vice president and chief operating officer of
BBBOnLine. “We commend them for passing the rigorous review process. . .”
“At Nick.com we put kids first and provide kids with a playground that aims
to be safe and engaging at the same time,” said Kris Bagwell, senior vice
president of Nickelodeon Online. “It gives us great pleasure to be the first
kids’ Web site to receive the seal and we encourage other companies to pursue
what will soon become the standard of privacy trustmarks on the Web.”
Nickelodeon, along with its parent company Viacom, participated as active
members of the BBBOnLine Privacy Steering Committee.
Web sites displaying the BBBOnLine Kid’s Privacy Seal must meet all the
requirements of the BBBOnLine Privacy Program and comply with additional
requirements for children under the age of 13. The additional requirements
are based on the guidelines of the Council of Better Business Bureaus’
Children’s Advertising Review Unit, Online Privacy Alliance and the
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, and include:
- a requirement for a Web site to obtain verifiable parental consent before
any personally identifiable information from children can be collected, used
or disclosed - obtain verifiable parental consent before children are allowed to post or
communicate directly with others - provide warnings and explanations in easy-to-understand language
- avoid collecting more information than necessary when offering
children’s games and activities
BBBOnLine Kid’s Privacy Seal participants also must provide parents
reasonable access to information collected from their children, and the
ability to correct or remove that information.