[Foundation-l] Wikimedia Census

[Andrew Whitworth]

On Feb 11, 2008 5:41 AM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 11/02/2008, Robert Rohde <rarohde at gmail.com> wrote:
> > The COPPA standard prohibits collecting personal information from
> > individuals under age 13.
>
> Can we at least ask a few questions of under 13's? At least to find
> out how many there are - not knowing would greatly reduce the
> conclusions we can draw from the survey.

>From a practical standpoint, we can't be certain that anybody is or is
not 13. Even though we could state that you must be over 13 to
participate, we can't possibly validate users who claim to be. While
it doesnt work in all circumstances, a policy of "don't ask, don't
tell" might be in order here. At least then, if there was a
COPPA-related problem, we could plead ignorance.

--Andrew Whitworth