"Can Tracking Hardware-Level Activity Protect Children's Online Privacy?"

Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas created a tool that can be used to determine whether a mobile game or app meets the requirements under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). A study conducted at the university in which 72 out of 100 mobile apps were found to violate COPPA prompted the development of the COPPA Tracking by Checking Hardware-Level Activity (COPPTCHA) tool. The COPPTCHA tool's testing found that it was 99% accurate in its determination of COPPA compliance. Mobile games and other apps in violation of COPPA pose a significant risk to privacy as their noncompliance could allow unknown entities to determine a child's geographic location and identity. This article continues to discuss the COPPTCHA tool aimed at protecting children's online privacy, how COPPA-violating apps could put children in danger, and other efforts to increase COPPA compliance. 

E&T reports "Can Tracking Hardware-Level Activity Protect Children's Online Privacy?"