I played a key role helping get the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) passed by Congress in 1998 (when I was executive director of the Center for Media Education). Since then, I have tried to ensure that the country’s only federal law addressing commercial privacy online was taken seriously.

For years, consumer and privacy advocates attempted to get the Federal Trade Commission to act responsibly when it came to ensuring that the digital giants treated the public fairly, including their privacy.  Since the mid-1990's, when I first started working to press the commission to be more responsive to the threats to autonomy and fairness triggered by the unrelenting and stealth gathering of all of our personal information (often working with EPIC), I was confronted by an agency which was so cautious, it blinded itself to the problems.  The agency has never been able to address the rol

All Complaints filed by Institute for Public Representation on behalf of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the Center for Digital Democracy, and others

Contact:

Josh Golin, CCFC: josh@commercialfreechildhood.org; (617) 896-9369

Jeff Chester, CDD: jeff@democraticmedia.org; (202) 494-7100

Advocates Demand FTC Investigation of Echo Dot Kids Edition

Amazon violates COPPA in many ways,

Curbing Companies’ Bad Behavior Will Require Stronger Data Privacy Laws and a New Federal Data Privacy Agency

Federal Privacy Laws Are Antiquated and Need Updating; New Data Privacy Legislation Must Include Civil Rights Protections and Enhanced Punishments for Violations

CDD submits comments to The National Telecommunications and Information Administration On “Developing the Administration’s Approach to Consumer Privacy"

CDD argues that

Online political misinformation and false news have already resurfaced in the 2018 midterm elections. CDD has produced a short e-guide to help voters understand how online media platforms can be hijacked to fan political polarization and social conflict. Enough Already!