15 U.S.C. § 6501: Definitions

The term “child” means an individual under the age of 13. among the several States or with 1 or more foreign nations; another such territory; or any State or foreign nation; or between the District of Columbia and any State, territory, or foreign nation; but does not include any nonprofit entity that would otherwise be exempt from coverage under section 45 of this title . The term “Commission” means the Federal Trade Commission. the release of personal information collected from a child in identifiable form by an operator for any purpose, except where such information is provided to a person other than the operator who provides support for the internal operations of the website and does not disclose or use that information for any other purpose; and a home page of a website; a pen pal service; an electronic mail service; a message board; or a chat room. The term “Federal agency” means an agency, as that term is defined in section 551(1) of title 5 . The term “Internet” means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio. The term “parent” includes a legal guardian. a first and last name; a home or other physical address including street name and name of a city or town; an e-mail address; a telephone number; a Social Security number; any other identifier that the Commission determines permits the physical or online contacting of a specific individual; or information concerning the child or the parents of that child that the website collects online from the child and combines with an identifier described in this paragraph. The term “verifiable parental consent” means any reasonable effort (taking into consideration available technology), including a request for authorization for future collection, use, and disclosure described in the notice, to ensure that a parent of a child receives notice of the operator’s personal information collection, use, and disclosure practices, and authorizes the collection, use, and disclosure, as applicable, of personal information and the subsequent use of that information before that information is collected from that child. a commercial website or online service that is targeted to children; or that portion of a commercial website or online service that is targeted to children. A commercial website or online service, or a portion of a commercial website or online service, shall not be deemed directed to children solely for referring or linking to a commercial website or online service directed to children by using information location tools, including a directory, index, reference, pointer, or hypertext link. The term “person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, cooperative, association, or other entity. The term “online contact information” means an e-mail address or another substantially similar identifier that permits direct contact with a person online. the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [ Oct. 21, 1998 ]; or the date on which the Commission rules on the first application filed for safe harbor treatment under section 1304 [enacting section 6503 of this title ] if the Commission does not rule on the first such application within one year after the date of enactment of this Act, but in no case later than the date that is 30 months after the date of enactment of this Act.”