CIPP-US Questions Bank

The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (CCPA) is a federal law that regulates the cable television industry and protects the privacy of cable subscribers. One of the provisions of the CCPA is that cable operators must providetheir subscribers with an annual notice that clearly and conspicuously informs them of the following information12:

• The nature of personally identifiable information collected or to be collected with respect to the subscriber and the nature of the use of such information
• The nature, frequency, and purpose of any disclosure of such information, including an identification of the types of persons to whom the disclosure may be made
• The period during which such information will be maintained by the cable operator
• The times and place at which the subscriber may have access to such information
• The limitations provided by the CCPA with respect to the collection and disclosure of information by a cable operator and the right of the subscriber under the CCPA to enforce such limitations

The annual notice must also state that the subscriber has the right to prevent disclosure of personally identifiable information to third parties, except as required by law or court order, and that the subscriber may sue for damages, attorney’s fees, and other relief for violations of the CCPA12.

References: 1: Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, Section 631 2: [IAPP CIPP/US Study Guide], Chapter 8, Section 8.3.2

The state UDAP statute, which stands for Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices, is a law that protects consumers from unfair or deceptive business practices. In this case, the employer’s failure to protect the employee’s personal information from a phishing attack could be considered an unfair or deceptive act or practice that harmed the employee. The employee could sue the employer under the state UDAP statute for damages, injunctive relief, or other remedies. The other options are not relevant to this scenario, as they deal with different aspects of data protection, such as confidentiality, access, or destruction of personal information. References:

• [IAPP CIPP/US Study Guide], Chapter 8, Section 8.3.1, page 227
• IAPP CIPP/US Practice Questions, Question 153, page 13

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a federal law that regulates the online collection and use of personal information from children under 13 years of age. COPPA requires operators of websites or online services that are directed to children, or that knowingly collect personal information from children, to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing such information. Verifiable parental consent means any reasonable effort (taking into consideration available technology) to ensure that before personal information is collected from a child, the child’s parent receives notice of the operator’s information practices and consents to those practices. COPPA also imposes other obligations on operators, such as providing parents with access to their children’s information, maintaining reasonable security measures, and limiting data retention. References: COPPA, IAPP CIPP/US Study Guide, Chapter 2, Section 2.3.1

Based on the incident, the FTC’s enforcement actions against the marketer would most likely include the violation of collecting information from a childunder the age of thirteen without obtaining verifiable parental consent, as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule. The COPPA Rule applies to operators of commercial websites and online services (including mobile apps) that collect, use, or disclose personal information from children under 13, and operators of general audience websites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13. The COPPA Rule also applies to websites or online services that are directed to children under 13 and that collect personal information from users of any age. The COPPA Rule defines personal information to include full name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, and other identifiers that permit the physical or online contacting of a specific individual. The COPPA Rule requires operators to post a clear and comprehensive online privacy policy describing their information practices for personal information collected online from children; provide direct notice to parents and obtain verifiable parental consent, with limited exceptions, before collecting personal information online from children; give parents the choice of consenting to the operator’s collection and internal use of a child’s information, but prohibiting the operator from disclosing that information to third parties (unless disclosure is integral to the site or service, in which case, this must be made clear to parents); provide parents access to their child’s personal information to review and/or have the information deleted; give parents the opportunity to prevent further use or online collection of a child’s personal information; maintain the confidentiality, security, and integrity of information they collect from children, including by taking reasonable steps to release such information only to parties capable of maintaining its confidentiality and security; and retain personal information collected online from a child for only as long as is necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected and delete the information using reasonable measures to protect against its unauthorized access or use. The FTC has the authority to seek civil penalties and injunctive relief for violations of the COPPA Rule. The FTC has brought numerous enforcement actions against operators for violating the COPPA Rule, resulting in millions of dollars in penalties and orders to delete illegally collected data. References:

• Children’s Privacy | Federal Trade Commission
• Kids’ Privacy (COPPA) | Federal Trade Commission
• FTC Is Escalating Scrutiny of Dark Patterns, Children’s Privacy
• FTC to Crack Down on Companies that Illegally Surveil Children Learning Online
• FTC Takes Action Against Company for Collecting Children’s Personal Information Without Parental Permission
• [IAPP CIPP/US Certified Information Privacy Professional Study Guide], Chapter 5, pages 165-168.