Yesterday, the American Bar Association Forum on Communications Law and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education sponsored the program “Marketing to Minors: Traps for the Unwary in a Rapidly Evolving Legal Landscape.”  Representatives from the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, and Gannett provided an overview of the current rules for marketing to children, discussed the status of a number of ongoing proceedings that propose changes to these rules, and explained how industry is reacting. 

Of particular interest were the remarks of Phyllis Marcus, senior staff attorney in the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices.  Ms. Marcus explained why the agency is undertaking a review of its COPPA Rule and noted that she didn’t think the agency was “too far away” from making a decision on whether or not the Rule needs updating.  (COPPA governs website operator’s online collection, use, and disclosure of personal information from children under 13.)  Ms. Marcus also explained that, even though Facebook requires users to be 13 or over, marketers with Facebook pages “should be reviewing pages and unfriending people who are, or appear to be, underage.”  She acknowledged that some might view this interpretation as “controversial,” but encouraged marketers to adopt this approach as a best practice.  And if a marketer’s Facebook page is likely to attract children, she warned that the marketer needs “to be very, very careful.”

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Photo of Lindsey Tonsager Lindsey Tonsager

Lindsey Tonsager helps national and multinational clients in a broad range of industries anticipate and effectively evaluate legal and reputational risks under federal and state data privacy and communications laws.

In addition to assisting clients engage strategically with the Federal Trade Commission, the…

Lindsey Tonsager helps national and multinational clients in a broad range of industries anticipate and effectively evaluate legal and reputational risks under federal and state data privacy and communications laws.

In addition to assisting clients engage strategically with the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Congress, and other federal and state regulators on a proactive basis, she has experience helping clients respond to informal investigations and enforcement actions, including by self-regulatory bodies such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and Children’s Advertising Review Unit.

Ms. Tonsager’s practice focuses on helping clients launch new products and services that implicate the laws governing the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising and social media, the collection of personal information from children and students online, behavioral advertising, e-mail marketing, artificial intelligence the processing of “big data” in the Internet of Things, spectrum policy, online accessibility, compulsory copyright licensing, telecommunications and new technologies.

Ms. Tonsager also conducts privacy and data security diligence in complex corporate transactions and negotiates agreements with third-party service providers to ensure that robust protections are in place to avoid unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of customer data and other types of confidential information. She regularly assists clients in developing clear privacy disclosures and policies―including website and mobile app disclosures, terms of use, and internal social media and privacy-by-design programs.