General strategies used by online marketers

Kids, especially, can't always tell the difference between fun and games on the Internet, and data collection. Here are some of the ways marketers get personal information from kids:

• Extensive registration forms that allow kids to "join" online communities
  
  
• Personal profiles to "help" young visitors meet other kids with similar interests
  
  
• Personality tests and I.Q. quizzes
  
  
• Online market surveys that allow kids to earn "points" for participating
  
  
• Entry forms for online contests
  
  
• Registration forms for downloading programs, games or plug-ins
  
  
• Electronic postcards ("e-cards") that kids can send to friends and family
  
  
• Newsletters for kids to subscribe to
  
  
• Offers of "free stuff" from companies, such as audio clips, celebrity profiles, discount coupons for online stores, or promotional screen-savers

Those are only the obvious ways of collecting data. Less obvious methods include electronic trackers such as cookies and Web bugs, which provide marketers with "clickstream data" on how individuals respond to and interact with Web sites and advertising.

Cookies, Web bugs and scumware

The most common form of this technology is "cookies"—electronic text files containing information about a user that Web servers store on the computers of people who visit their sites. These files can then be accessed by that Web server, or by others. On commercial sites, these cookies record your activities so that the next time you visit, the site can offer you customized information. But the use of cookies is controversial: both the storage of your personal information, and its subsequent access by a Web server, usually goes unnoticed.

A more recent privacy concern is the use of Web bugs—small, transparent graphics that can be placed on Web pages or in emails. Web bugs work in tandem with cookies to mine data from Internet users; and like cookies, these bugs can measure traffic on a Web page or track where you go on a particular site. But they can also follow people as they surf the Net, and combine this information into detailed personal profiles.

Normally, bugs just collect technical information such as IP addresses—but it's possible for them to use existing cookies to gather personal information about a user. Such personal files may then be stored on a separate server, and shared with other marketers.

Web bugs embedded in email messages are even more invasive. These bugs indicate if and when a particular email message has been opened, what the IP address of the recipient is, and how often the message is forwarded and read.

Equally intrusive is advertising software that comes "bundled" with the free file-sharing programs kids and teens use to download and swap music files. This software (known as "scumware") literally takes over a computer, superimposing hypertext links on selected words on Web pages the user visits. Users think they're accessing part of the site they mean to visit—when in fact they're being whisked away to a totally unrelated Web page, chosen by the marketers.

There are several ways to handle invasive marketing tools like these. You can download free anti-ad software, such as Ad-Aware or Web Washer, that warns users of scumware included in programs. You can visit the Cookie Central Web site for strategies on disabling cookies on your hard drive. Or you can visit the Privacy Foundation and learn how to minimize the effects of Web bugs. (These sites are listed on the sidebar.)

It's important for kids and teens to understand that they have a right to privacy on the Internet, and to learn to recognize both the obvious and the less-obvious methods used by marketers to invade their privacy and collect information.

Legislation and guidelines

Canada has no legislation specifically prohibiting the collection of information from children through electronic media.

The Canadian Association of Internet providers (CAIP) has developed a Voluntary Code of Conduct for its members that contains ten privacy principles. These principles don't specifically apply to children, but it's assumed children are included under them.

The Privacy Guidelines of the Canadian Marketing Association include a few stipulations relating to the collection, transfer or request of personal information from children under the age of thirteen. But these are not comprehensive, and they too are voluntary.

The United States is far ahead of Canada in protecting children's privacy on the Internet: the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) came into effect in April 2000. This Act requires commercial Web sites to provide clear notice of their information-gathering practices, and to obtain parental consent when eliciting personal information from children under 13. (The Kidsprivacy.com Web site, on the right sidebar, outlines this legislation in greater detail.)

Legislation and guidelines are a good start, but they're not foolproof. Privacy policies posted on sites for kids can be vague, unclear, or even misleading; and besides, nothing prevents children under 13 from visiting Web sites intended for older teens and adults—sites that don't have to abide by this legislation.

This situation is compounded by the fact that Canadian kids and teens don't particularly seem to value their personal privacy—especially when they could win a prize. Over 50 per cent say they would reveal their gender, age, hobbies, name and email address in order to win a contest. Part of the challenge for parents and educators is to help young people understand that their personal information should not be up for grabs by the marketing industry.