Jonas Brothers Site Cited for Violating Children's Privacy

(MoneyWatch)  The Jonas Brothers' fan web site wrongly collected the names and cell phone numbers of kids under the age of 13 without their parents' consent, according to an industry watchdog.

The band's site thus potentially violated a federal law which prevents web sites from collecting info about kids.

The site, JonasBrothersFanClub.com, tipped off kids to enter a fake age so that they did not need their parents permission to begin receiving spam from the band, according to the Children's Advertising Review Unit.

After an exam by CARU the web site -- run by Ultrastar Entertainment -- has promised to alter its policies so that parental consent is required by users under the age of 13 when they download stuff from the boy band that evolved from 1980s hair metal combo Property of the Queen. CARU said:

CARU was concerned that the site did not obtain actual parental consent before allowing visitors under the age of 13 to register and that the site's newsletter feature allowed children to easily change their year of birth to reflect an age 13 or over, contrary to CARU's Guidelines.

Following CARU's initial inquiry, Ultrastar changed its policy to allow visitors under the age of 13 to register for the e-newsletter only with parental consent. In order to comply with the Guidelines, the Website removed the tip-off language from the age-collection process.

For visitors under the age of 13, the operator stated it would also collect an email address for a parent to send notification pursuant to [the Children's Online Privacy protection Act] and would no longer collect a full name or a cell phone number from its visitors under 13.

The company, in its advertiser's statement, said it has "worked with CARU directly to ensure the site's compliance, and is making all suggested modifications to the jonasbrothersfanclub.com web site.

The act prevents web site operators from collecting marketing information from children without their parents' consent.