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The Federal Trade Commission has denied an application seeking approval of a proposed verifiable parental consent method submitted by AssertID, Inc., under the agency’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection (COPPA) Rule.

In a letter to AssertID, the Commission noted that the company’s proposal failed to provide sufficient evidence that its method would meet the requirements set out under the rule. Specifically, the Commission noted that there was not yet adequate research or market testing to show the effectiveness of the AssertID “social-graph verification” method.

Under the COPPA rule, covered online sites and services must obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. The rule lays out a number of acceptable methods for gaining parental consent, but also allows interested parties to seek FTC approval of new verifiable parental consent methods.

The Commission vote to deny the application was 4-0.

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