15 U.S.C. § 6501 : US Code - Section 6501: Definitions

Search 15 U.S.C. § 6501 : US Code - Section 6501: Definitions

In this chapter:
(1) Child
The term "child" means an individual under the age of 13.
(2) Operator
The term "operator" -
(A) means any person who operates a website located on the
Internet or an online service and who collects or maintains
personal information from or about the users of or visitors to
such website or online service, or on whose behalf such
information is collected or maintained, where such website or
online service is operated for commercial purposes, including
any person offering products or services for sale through that
website or online service, involving commerce -
(i) among the several States or with 1 or more foreign
nations;
(ii) in any territory of the United States or in the
District of Columbia, or between any such territory and -
(I) another such territory; or
(II) any State or foreign nation; or
(iii) between the District of Columbia and any State,
territory, or foreign nation; but
(B) does not include any nonprofit entity that would
otherwise be exempt from coverage under section 45 of this
title.
(3) Commission
The term "Commission" means the Federal Trade Commission.
(4) Disclosure
The term "disclosure" means, with respect to personal
information -
(A) 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
(B) making personal information collected from a child by a
website or online service directed to children or with actual
knowledge that such information was collected from a child,
publicly available in identifiable form, by any means including
by a public posting, through the Internet, or through -
(i) a home page of a website;
(ii) a pen pal service;
(iii) an electronic mail service;
(iv) a message board; or
(v) a chat room.
(5) Federal agency
The term "Federal agency" means an agency, as that term is
defined in section 551(1) of title 5.
(6) Internet
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.
(7) Parent
The term "parent" includes a legal guardian.
(8) Personal information
The term "personal information" means individually identifiable
information about an individual collected online, including -
(A) a first and last name;
(B) a home or other physical address including street name
and name of a city or town;
(C) an e-mail address;
(D) a telephone number;
(E) a Social Security number;
(F) any other identifier that the Commission determines
permits the physical or online contacting of a specific
individual; or
(G) 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.
(9) Verifiable parental consent
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.
(10) Website or online service directed to children
(A) In general
The term "website or online service directed to children"
means -
(i) a commercial website or online service that is targeted
to children; or
(ii) that portion of a commercial website or online service
that is targeted to children.
(B) Limitation
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.
(11) Person
The term "person" means any individual, partnership,
corporation, trust, estate, cooperative, association, or other
entity.
(12) Online contact information
The term "online contact information" means an e-mail address
or another substantially similar identifier that permits direct
contact with a person online.