By: NBC News
May 23, 2019
The traditional system of policing the internet to keep kids from harmful content — and companies compliant with federal privacy laws — relies on the honor system.
A user is usually asked to check a box to verify that they’re over 13 or enter their birthday before they’re allowed to enter an age-restricted website. That’s a problem for companies who need to keep compliant with federal privacy law, said Dylan Collins, CEO of SuperAwesome, a company that builds safer internet products for children.
“It’s easy to spoof if you’re a child,” Collins said. “Of course you’re going to say, ‘I’m an adult.’ The problem is, that is then taking kids into these adult environments, which might not have appropriate content. From a privacy perspective, it also means that all of their personal data is being captured.”