Centennial College's kidsmediacentre partners with Interactive Ontario to launch Ethical Review for Children's Digital Content Creators

TORONTO, Sept. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - The kidsmediacentre is partnering with Interactive Ontario (http://www.interactiveontario.com/) to present a summary of best practices for children's digital developers in Ontario, including a summary of the newly revised U.S. based Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines governing kids' digital media.

EVENT DETAILS:

iLunch 12.1 - Your Secret is Safe With Me: Digital Data and Privacy in Kids' Interactive
September 25, 2013, 11:30am - 2:00pm
Ontario Investment and Trade Centre, 250 Yonge Street, 35th Floor, Toronto
To register: http://ilunch121.eventbrite.ca

The goal of the September 25 iLunch is to help small content creation companies better understand the updated legal and ethical frameworks in kids' interactive. The proliferation of mobile technologies has resulted in children's personal information and data being shared with social media platforms and online advertisers, often without parent's knowledge. PIPEDA, the Canadian government's legal framework, and the controversial Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), which went into effect on July 1, 2013, have laws to prohibit that and the iLunch presentation will attempt to share these with developers.

The FTC decided to step up enforcement of their COPPA Regulations after a two-year review of children's privacy and safety in the fast moving digital space. The new Rule legislates more parental oversight of children's online activities. The event will be moderated by Debbie Gordon of the kidsmediacentre and features children's privacy expert Denise Tayloe, President of PRIVO, a children's Safe Harbor provider based in Washington and James Kosa, information technology and intellectual property lawyer at Deeth Williams Wall.

While COPPA is a U.S. law, compliance is mandatory for Canadian developers who market interactive digital media (IDM) to children (under 13) south of the border and who specifically collect, use and disclose their personal information. The FTC has made it clear the new regulations apply equally to developers of apps and online properties who use children's personally identifiable information (PII) for marketing purposes (i.e. to serve ads, encourage information sharing, integrate social media features). It also promised prosecutorial action for developers in the U.S. and abroad (including Canada) who fail to comply and secure verifiable parental consent.

According to Debbie Gordon, Director of the kidsmediacentre, many new Ontario developers of kids' digital media are unaware of the full range of privacy and legal guidelines. "The kidsmediacentre report reviews children's privacy and personal information guidelines for COPPA and Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), providing regulatory overviews and guidelines for both" says Gordon. The report compares advertising regulations in the Canadian Broadcasting Act with the current regulation-free advertising landscape in apps. It also summarizes Apple (iOS) and Google Play (Android) age regulations and introduces developers to the concept of Safe Harbor. "We wanted the report to be a "one-stop shop" for Ontario developers eager to brush up on the wide swath of child-related marketing and regulatory considerations," says Gordon.

Earlier this month, the kidsmediacentre launched an Ethical Framework and Best Practice Review of the children's digital industry in Ontario (www.kidsmediacentre.ca). This is a groundbreaking ethics and privacy study for children's digital media - a first in Ontario. At a time when youth are racking up big bills for in-app purchases or being rewarded with in-game currency if they post to Facebook, the report provides children's content creators with a framework of marketing best practices and success criteria for ethical interactive development. The report also features case studies of more than 20 successful Ontario children's publishers and in-depth reviews of key legal, child development and marketing practices. The report is funded by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and Centennial College's Applied Research and Innovation Centre.

The report is available on the kidsmediacentre (www.kidsmediacentre.ca) web site.

ABOUT: The kidsmediacentre at Centennial College is a groundbreaking research centre and think tank focused on exploring and optimizing the possibilities in children's media. Working with Centennial's ECE lab schools and the college's post-graduate Children's Entertainment Program, the kidsmediacentre provides creative market research solutions to help content producers develop children's media rich in learning potential. As an academic centre, the kidsmediacentre also funds children's industry start-ups tapping into federal and provincial commercialization grants with a goal of partnering talented, job-ready students with innovative, socially conscious developers.

SOURCE: Centennial College

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Debbie Gordon, Director, kidsmediacentre, [email protected]
416-289-5000 x 8770