Lessons From The 700 MHz Auction? More Of The Same

Should Kids Get Control Of Their Data When They Come Of Age?

from the but-Dad,-I-don't-want-them-spamming-me... dept

Thu, Mar 20th 2008 4:29pm — Mike Masnick

If you're under a certain age, websites (at least under the law in many countries) cannot collect data on you -- or are required to get "consent" from an adult first. However, that's leading to a separate discussion about whether or not kids should have the right to take back that data once they come of age. A parent may agree to share certain data about a kid with a certain website, but once that kid is old enough, what if he wants to revoke that permission? It may sound like a simple thing, but once that data is out there, getting it back is nearly impossible. Yet, some politicians are trying to make that the law, even though it will be almost impossible to enforce in many cases.

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Filed Under: children, control, data

4 Comments

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FuturePrez, 20 Mar 2008 @ 5:10pm

It's time to lower the age of legalization to 10. Kids know it all today. Let them legally drink at 12 also. 18 & 21 are so last century.
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Bryan Price, 20 Mar 2008 @ 5:23pm

Can I at the age of 50?
I mean, really.

A lot of the data I already control. Because most of what I can find on the web relates to my own websites that I control. It's the other part that I keep wondering about.
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Al, 20 Mar 2008 @ 5:46pm

Bad Phorm
This really brings Phorm into question, and neither I or any other person whose comments I've read (from the register/shoutwire etc) have touched on this. Phorm (or any other targeted 'advertising' could easily compromise the privacy of children, and so the whole issue should be thrown open to mainstream public debate.

I dont want my daughters browsing statistics to be logged. She may not want this information to be referred to in the future!

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Who Me?, 20 Mar 2008 @ 8:00pm

I want
To reclaim my birth certificate data, my SAT scores (especially the English portion), my ACT scores, my High School Transcripts, Year Book, phew... it's gonna be a huge list.
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