Rules under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act require websites and online services directed at children to take the consent of the child’s parent before collecting personal information of the child.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, after a long debate including public comment, has allowed the use of a new method involving facial recognition and phone or webcam photographs of parents to verify that the person providing consent for a child to use an online service is indeed the child’s parent.

The COPPA Rule currently allows parents to mail, fax or send electronic scans of consent forms, call specified toll-free numbers with their consent, or use their bank or credit cards for payments. One method in use involves checking government-issued identification documents submitted by parents against databases with such information, but the new system proposed seems to attempt to do the verification entirely by using imaging and face recognition technology.

The system, called “face match to verified photo identification” (FMVPI), was proposed by a regulatory compliance services company called Riyo. The method requires the parent to submit a snap of a personal photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, which is verified using computer vision and image forensics technology to ensure that it is a genuine government-issued document.

Read the Full Article: Source – PC World
Browsing Privacy: (PC World) – FTC allows selfies to verify parental consent for kids using online services

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