Facebook Seeks Patent for Tech to Let Kids on Its Network (Legally)
Facebook restricts users to those over the age of 13, but anyone who’s talked to a tween lately knows how effective that is.
But now it appears Facebook wants to create a way for young people to go legit on the network — and still comply with the law.
In a patent application filed in November of 2012 and made public yesterday, Facebook describes a system to let parents authorize and supervise accounts for younger children in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. That law regulates how websites and apps can collect data from children younger than 13 and calls for “verifiable parental consent” from publishers that do.
