CDD Asks FTC to Reject ESRB Safe Harbor Modification Request

The Entertainment Software Rating Board’s request to modify FTC’s safe-harbor program “would reduce privacy protections for children below the already low bar set by” the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), said the Center for Digital Democracy in a letter to the agency Monday. The videogame industry proposed amending a self-regulatory program the agency approved under COPPA (see 1804020044). ESRB’s proposal would eliminate a COPPA requirement for annual compliance reviews, among other concerns, said CDD, which wrote the joint letter with the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. The letter asked the FTC to reject ESRB’s application unless it corrects several problems. “Children’s privacy is too important to allow safe-harbor providers to weaken their programs,” it said. The FTC and ESRB didn’t comment.