Not sure whether this is the right forum, I wasn't sure where to put this.
I've always been under the impression my forum would follow all possible rules, I've always made sure that no kind of illegal content gets posted, but I completely forgot about COPPA.
So I recently started reading more about it and came to the conclusion that I'm supposed to follow these laws, because my forums are hosted in the US (I'm not from there myself) and are also meant to attract a younger audience.
Now I'm not entirely sure which actions I need to take.
- Enabling parental verification
This would mean that I'd have parents email me their data and agreement. This seems a bit complicated and I think it could also be faked.
- Disallowing under 13 year olds to register
This seems a lot easier than the first option. But what to do about under 13 year olds who are currently on the site? Ban them or ask them for permission from their parent? I also haven't found any way to search members who are under 13 (there seems to be no search function of that kind in vB), not to mention some people didn't fill in their age. What to do about them?
As far as I know I need to have a privacy policy to comply with COPPA. Is there some kind of sample I could use and change so it fit into my forums? I'm not really sure what to include.
I've also read at the COPPA page that I need to put my contact details somewhere, like phone number, email, name and address. Am I really required to provide all that information? I personally don't want to give my address, name and phone number away (email is fine), I just don't see it as a good idea to put it on the net and don't want everyone to access it.
In which kind of trouble can this all get you? And who can? Does whoever is responsible for COPPA keep checking sites or do they follow the complaints of parents or people who are simply concerned?
- How can I be sure I'm safe?
How can I be sure that after I applied all changes neccessary in my opinion, that I didn't forget about anything?
- Moving to a different host
Would moving to a host outside of the US help in any way? I've read that if a certain site also targets US children under 13, the rule still applies. My site is in English, so I guess it wouldn't make any difference.
This really has been bothering me quite a bit. I even thought of getting rid of my forums. It's just a hobby and even if I worked reall hard on it, if it can get me into trouble like this, I'd rather not take the risk.
Though I've also seen plenty of sites with the same topic which don't have any notice about COPPA or anything. Most of them are usually free sites (hosted by services like invisionfree or proboards), but wouldn't COPPA still apply to some of them?
Anyway, I'm hoping you can give me some advice on this matter.
