Websites that collect information from children under the age of 13 are required to comply with Federal Trade Commission Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA prohibits any website operator (such as yourself) or online service provider (such as ourselves) from knowingly collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 without first providing notice to parents and obtaining their “verifiable consent.” See the Federal Trade Commission’s FAQs about COPPA.
Ning isn’t directed to children younger than 13 and is only offered to those over 13. As a Network Creator, you cannot collect any information from or develop social networks that are targeted at children younger than 13, and you may wonder why that is.
The privacy of children is very important to us. Because you collect personal information from members when they sign up for the Ning Platform, our Terms of Service prohibit children 13 and under from using Ning, and Network Creators from targeting or collecting information from children under 13. Additionally, there is an age screen in place to prevent children under 13 from registering for your social network.
As mentioned in our Privacy Policy, if we discover that information was collected from children who are under 13, we’ll take appropriate steps to cause the information to be deleted. This means relevant member content and accounts will be deleted. We’ll also have to take action as appropriate with your Network Creator account and social network, so please do not target or collect information from children under 13.