Kids’ interest in online fun isn’t surprising. The Internet features thousands of engaging Web environments for children and young people. Some of these online environments are educational or non-commercial but chances are if a child is looking for high-end fun and games on the Net, it can be found on a commercial site for kids.
Online marketers typically build entire entertainment environments for children that seamlessly blend content and advertising. In these kid-friendly “cyber-worlds,” advertisers engage children interactively, allowing them to “play” with online commercial content as they build relationships with products.
Advertisers also collect data about specific users – through online registration forms, quizzes and surveys, or “cookies” that track where kids surf, how long they stay and what they download. Some of these data collection tools, like registration forms, are obvious; others, like cookies, are invisible. In both cases, accepting the data-collection tools is usually a condition of accessing the site.
Sites like Neopets and Club Penguin capitalize on the fact that children comprise an important marketing demographic. According to James U. McNeal, professor of marketing at Texas A&M, youth directly control $24.4 billion dollars a year in spending and influence a further $300 billion in parental spending.
The Internet is an ideal way to access this lucrative market. Studies conducted by the Media Awareness Network in 2001 and 2005 support this assessment. The surveys revealed that 80 per cent of young people are alone when they use the Internet, and that most parents don't know what their children do online. Sixty-five per cent of parents think that their children use the Internet primarily for homework. But when kids talk about what they like to do most online, 57 per cent said that instant messaging was their favourite activity; 39 per cent download music; 43 per cent play online games; and 10 per cent send and receive e-mails. These are all activities in which personal information can be passed along quite readily—if inadvertently.
As well, 19 per cent of young respondents said they would give out their name and other personal information to enter an online contest, and 31 per cent would give out their email address. More than half of respondents said they never read Web sites' privacy policies.
In 2004, the Canadian Marketing Association updated its Code of Ethics, including provisions regarding marketing to children under the age of thirteen. These voluntary guidelines stress that marketers should not accept orders from children without parental consent and that marketers should use age-appropriate language and imagery in their advertisements. However, the Code allows marketers to collect "a minimal amount of personal information" from children without the consent of parents or guardians.
Another area where privacy is a concern is online communication, including activities such as instant messaging and social networking sites. A 2008 study by Kids Help Line showed that 40 percent of youth were willing to give out personal information to someone they only knew online. Social networking is all about meeting new people, and youth frequently give up personal information without thinking about possible consequences.
