InternetParent
New Member
Recently, a parent of one of my son's Little League teammates took it upon himself to post a considerable number of game photos and videos onto public sites like Flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo. I am not necessarily opposed to this - in fact I think it can be very useful SO LONG AS the sites are private (password protected), secure (hacker proof), and no parents object.
Unfortunately, this parent reluctantly added password protection only after I raised concerns about child privacy and safety. I soon found out he knowingly and intentionally left open a number of backdoors open allow ANYONE to access the content without passwords. Sadly, I actually overheard this parent tell another parent "I was the only person who had ever objected in the 5 years he's been posting pictures and videos of his son's games." He actually went so far as to say he was considering sending around an email to all parents EXCEPT me to let them know how to access the content without a password.
In my view this parent has demonstrated he is not only indifferent to the possibility of child endangerment (the pictures and videos contain identifiably information such as children's names, team names, and locations), he is willfully ignoring it.
The only law I've been able to find that even comes close to protecting the privacy and safety of children on the Internet appears to be COPPA. Unfortunately, COPPA appears to be intended to protect information that kids post about themselves, rather than what third parties post about them (such as pictures and videos). Additionally, COPPA seems to target commercial websites rather than non-commercial "sub-sites" (like those created by individuals on Flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo.)
What laws are available in this situation to help protect the privacy and safety of children? Would "child endangerment" laws apply?
Thanks,
InternetParent
Unfortunately, this parent reluctantly added password protection only after I raised concerns about child privacy and safety. I soon found out he knowingly and intentionally left open a number of backdoors open allow ANYONE to access the content without passwords. Sadly, I actually overheard this parent tell another parent "I was the only person who had ever objected in the 5 years he's been posting pictures and videos of his son's games." He actually went so far as to say he was considering sending around an email to all parents EXCEPT me to let them know how to access the content without a password.
In my view this parent has demonstrated he is not only indifferent to the possibility of child endangerment (the pictures and videos contain identifiably information such as children's names, team names, and locations), he is willfully ignoring it.
The only law I've been able to find that even comes close to protecting the privacy and safety of children on the Internet appears to be COPPA. Unfortunately, COPPA appears to be intended to protect information that kids post about themselves, rather than what third parties post about them (such as pictures and videos). Additionally, COPPA seems to target commercial websites rather than non-commercial "sub-sites" (like those created by individuals on Flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo.)
What laws are available in this situation to help protect the privacy and safety of children? Would "child endangerment" laws apply?
Thanks,
InternetParent