The only way to reliably verify parental consent online is with a credit card, which is antithetical to the nature of free scholarship matching services.
Sherman says Facebook is "not seeking to collect additional information" to verify parental consent, so it seems Facebook is happy to let teens easily bypass the checkup.
The issue is that, as Neustrom found out, mobile providers don't appear to be working very hard to verify that consent on their end.
"But Facebook blindly trusts that they've actually selected their parent or guardian… [Facebook's] Sherman says Facebook is "not seeking to collect additional information" to verify parental consent, so it seems Facebook is happy to let teens easily bypass the checkup".
According to the agreement, companies will face sizable fines if they don't make "reasonable efforts to verify that consent is given or authorized by the holder of parental responsibility over the child, taking into consideration available technology".
The complaint (PDF), filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and a couple of other groups, alleges that Genesis Toys and Nuance Communications "unfairly and deceptively collect, use, and disclose audio files of children's voices without providing adequate notice or obtaining verified parental consent," in violation of COPPA and other laws.
Amazon today is launching the first Alexa skills specifically aimed at children, which will go live with a new Verified Parental Consent feature in order to operate within the confines of child data protections, like the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
In order to participate, potential participants had to answer several questions to ensure that they understood the study procedures and potential harms and benefits before they verified their consent to participate online.
Hence verifying the consent first within the PEHR would be illegal since patient data would leave the hospital environment without prior permission.
