CDD applauds FTC for telling 9th Circuit Facebook was incorrect on COPPA and that teen privacy can be protected by state law/Calif also weighs in

We were pleased to learn that the FTC filed an Amicus brief in the 9th Circuit yesterday to help create the misleading record Facebook created in the so-called “Sponsored Stories” case. CDD, along with Public Citizens and the Children’s Advovacy Institute (U of San Diego) have been closely working together on the case, to support an outcome that provides the privacy safeguards teens require. Here’s what CDD’s attorney Hudson Kingston said about the FTC’s filing:

“The Federal Trade Commission’s brief in this case is a major development for the protection of teenagers’ privacy. Facebook’s attorneys tried to get this settlement through by using a law meant to protect children to block state law protection of teens – now the agency made clear that this is a wrong reading of the law, this settlement clearly harms teenagers by ignoring their rights under state laws. States play a vital role protecting teens from privacy violations. Settlements that are based on illegality cannot stand. While the agency did not officially support either party, its reading of the law undermines one of Facebook’s key arguments that it can get out of this case without first addressing its weak privacy protections for teens. We hope that the Ninth Circuit accepts this authoritative view and throws out the settlement.”

The FTC’s Amicus is attached. So is the State of California’s amicus.