ProfileTrakker Protects Children’s Privacy per FTC

FollowUp.Net Gives Vendors a Way to Responsibly Manage Children’s Information According to New FTC Regulation

Westport, CT (October 22, 1999) - FollowUp.Net, a leading provider of Internet-based consumer profiling tools, announces a new program to help vendors responsibly manage children’s profile information as mandated by the Federal Trade Commission’s recently enacted Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule. By employing FollowUp.Net’s ProfileTrakker, a vendor can collect parents’ permission and their children’s profile and demonstrate that it is used responsibly.

Vendors wishing to conduct an online dialog with children can get a parent’s permission by having the parent fill out an online ProfileTrakker form housed at the FollowUp.Net data center. This form will contain parent and child information as input by the parent. The vendor can then use FollowUp’s built-in permission-based communication tools to send targeted e-mail newsletters and information updates to children, while copying the parents. Each communication will provide for easy and immediate opt-out and parents will have direct, one-click access to their child’s profile so they can modify or delete the information at any time.

"ProfileTrakker is logically positioned to play a role in this important issue," explains FollowUp.Net CEO, Chris Woods. "Honestly, as parents ourselves, the last thing we would want is for our service to be used to advertise to children. But we have found a lot of vendors who want to sponsor online sports clinics or send Nature Center newsletters and are concerned that they will be perceived as doing something without parental permission. They also have no process to collect and manage that permission. ProfileTrakker brings the communication process out in the open and gives parents an easy way to be part of their children’s online activities while providing vendors with a manageable solution for legal compliance and plain good business practice."

About the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was enacted following a three-year effort by the Federal Trade Commission to identify and educate industry and the public about the issues raised by the online collection of personal information from children and adult consumers. The act was signed into law by Congress October 21, 1998. On October 21, 1999 the commissioners approved a rule specifically to protect the privacy of children under 13 years old using the Internet. See http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/9910/childfinal.htm

About FollowUp.Net, LLC.

FollowUp.Net is a leader in Web-based customer profiling and target marketing applications based in Westport, CT. Its services include: ProfileTrakker™, SurveyTrakker™, SiteTrakker™, PulseTrakker™, WarrantyTrakker™, CallTrakker™, CartTrakker™ and PurchaseTrakker™. As an application service provider, FollowUp.Net supplies a turnkey solution of software, hosting and maintenance that integrates immediately with a vendor’s business process. Its customers include large E-commerce retailers, off-line service companies, traditional manufacturers and non-profits. FollowUp operates under the privacy guidelines established by Trust-e.