[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR312.2]

[Page 381-383]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
                   CHAPTER I--FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
 
PART 312_CHILDREN'S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION RULE--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 312.2  Definitions.

    Child means an individual under the age of 13.
    Collects or collection means the gathering of any personal 
information from a child by any means, including but not limited to:
    (a) Requesting that children submit personal information online;
    (b) Enabling children to make personal information publicly 
available through a chat room, message board, or other means, except 
where the operator deletes all individually identifiable information 
from postings by children before they are made public, and also deletes 
such information from the operator's records; or
    (c) The passive tracking or use of any identifying code linked to an 
individual, such as a cookie.
    Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.
    Delete means to remove personal information such that it is not 
maintained in retrievable form and cannot be retrieved in the normal 
course of business.
    Disclosure means, with respect to personal information:
    (a) The release of personal information collected from a child in 
identifiable form by an operator for any purpose, except where an 
operator provides such information to a person who provides support for 
the internal operations of the website or online service and who does 
not disclose or use that information for any other purpose. For purposes 
of this definition:
    (1) Release of personal information means the sharing, selling, 
renting, or any other means of providing personal information to any 
third party, and

[[Page 382]]

    (2) Support for the internal operations of the website or online 
service means those activities necessary to maintain the technical 
functioning of the website or online service, or to fulfill a request of 
a child as permitted by Sec. 312.5(c)(2) and (3); or
    (b) Making personal information collected from a child by an 
operator publicly available in identifiable form, by any means, 
including by a public posting through the Internet, or through a 
personal home page posted on a website or online service; a pen pal 
service; an electronic mail service; a message board; or a chat room.
    Federal agency means an agency, as that term is defined in Section 
551(1) of title 5, United States Code.
    Internet means collectively the myriad of computer and 
telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating 
software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of 
networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet 
Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to 
communicate information of all kinds by wire, radio, or other methods of 
transmission.
    Online contact information means an e-mail address or any other 
substantially similar identifier that permits direct contact with a 
person online.
    Operator means any person who operates a website located on the 
Internet or an online service and who collects or maintains personal 
information from or about the users of or visitors to such website or 
online service, or on whose behalf such information is collected or 
maintained, where such website or online service is operated for 
commercial purposes, including any person offering products or services 
for sale through that website or online service, involving commerce:
    (a) Among the several States or with 1 or more foreign nations;
    (b) In any territory of the United States or in the District of 
Columbia, or between any such territory and
    (1) Another such territory, or
    (2) Any State or foreign nation; or
    (c) Between the District of Columbia and any State, territory, or 
foreign nation. This definition does not include any nonprofit entity 
that would otherwise be exempt from coverage under Section 5 of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45).
    Parent includes a legal guardian.
    Person means any individual, partnership, corporation, trust, 
estate, cooperative, association, or other entity.
    Personal information means individually identifiable information 
about an individual collected online, including:
    (a) A first and last name;
    (b) A home or other physical address including street name and name 
of a city or town;
    (c) An e-mail address or other online contact information, including 
but not limited to an instant messaging user identifier, or a screen 
name that reveals an individual's e-mail address;
    (d) A telephone number;
    (e) A Social Security number;
    (f) A persistent identifier, such as a customer number held in a 
cookie or a processor serial number, where such identifier is associated 
with individually identifiable information; or a combination of a last 
name or photograph of the individual with other information such that 
the combination permits physical or online contacting; or
    (g) Information concerning the child or the parents of that child 
that the operator collects online from the child and combines with an 
identifier described in this definition.
    Third party means any person who is not:
    (a) An operator with respect to the collection or maintenance of 
personal information on the website or online service; or
    (b) A person who provides support for the internal operations of the 
website or online service and who does not use or disclose information 
protected under this part for any other purpose.
    Obtaining verifiable consent means making any reasonable effort 
(taking into consideration available technology) to ensure that before 
personal information is collected from a child, a parent of the child:
    (a) Receives notice of the operator's personal information 
collection, use, and disclosure practices; and
    (b) Authorizes any collection, use, and/or disclosure of the 
personal information.

[[Page 383]]

    Website or online service directed to children means a commercial 
website or online service, or portion thereof, that is targeted to 
children. Provided, however, that a commercial website or online 
service, or a portion thereof, shall not be deemed directed to children 
solely because it refers or links to a commercial website or online 
service directed to children by using information location tools, 
including a directory, index, reference, pointer, or hypertext link. In 
determining whether a commercial website or online service, or a portion 
thereof, is targeted to children, the Commission will consider its 
subject matter, visual or audio content, age of models, language or 
other characteristics of the website or online service, as well as 
whether advertising promoting or appearing on the website or online 
service is directed to children. The Commission will also consider 
competent and reliable empirical evidence regarding audience 
composition; evidence regarding the intended audience; and whether a 
site uses animated characters and/or child-oriented activities and 
incentives.