Bits: Children’s Advocacy Group Faults Learning Apps for Babies

Bits Blog: A Digital Diaper for Tracking Children’s Health

A screen shot from Pixie Scientific’s Web site, showing its diapers and accompanying smartphone app that can transmit certain health information to a physician.

Talk about changing with the times.

A New York start-up called Pixie Scientific has developed a diaper that the company says can detect possible urinary tract infections, kidney dysfunctions, and dehydration, accompanied by a smartphone app that can transmit the information to a physician.

“I was driving with my wife and daughter one day, when my wife asked if the baby had wet herself,” said Yaroslav Faybishenko, Pixie’s founder. “I realized she was sitting in data.”

Other so-called quantified self products have been developed for adults, like products from Jawbone and FitBit that create digital records of calorie expenditure and sleep habits. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, a Taiwanese company called AiQ showed off shirts that it said could measure things like heart rate and other biometric signals.

In contrast to those things, the technology behind the diaper is relatively simple, and it owes as much to the quality of smartphone cameras as it does to clever chemistry.

At the front of the diaper is a patch with several colored squares. Each square represents a different interaction with a protein, water content or bacteria, and changes color if it detects something is outside of normal parameters. There is also a neutral white square, to more easily check for color changes in the other squares.

A smartphone app takes a picture and can make precise readings of the chemical data based on  color changes. The data is uploaded to a central location, where physicians can get information about how the child is doing and whether the baby needs further testing.

The diaper is expected to be tested at Benioff Children’s Hospital of the University of California, San Francisco this September. Columbia University’s children’s hospital is considering a similar study. If successful, the product may then be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for final approval.

Mr. Faybishenko said he thought the diaper, which he said would cost about 30 percent more than regular diapers, had potential as a consumer product, for parents who want to keep regular tabs on their child’s health. Rather than overwhelming parents with data, the app is likely to let them know whether they should see a pediatrician for one or more possible conditions. With the parents’ permission, the detailed urine analysis data could be sent to a doctor’s office.

“You really don’t want to overload parents with data they don’t understand,” he said. “Eventually the quantified self idea will be mostly silent and unobtrusive, just something inside the existing flow of life.”

Mr. Faybishenko said the company was working on other tests, but would not specify what they were.

Gadgetwise: Some Top Picks for Children's Tech Gifts

With the holidays approaching, parents may be wondering what technology gifts are appealing and appropriate for children. Here are some top picks that are likely to put smiles on little faces.

“It’s a Small World,” an app from Disney Publishing Worldwide, was inspired by a children’s book illustrated by Joey Chou.

Storybook apps are a great way to introduce youngsters to digital technology. One of the best is It’s a Small World, an iPad app from Disney Publishing Worldwide. The artwork, inspired by a children’s book illustrated by Joey Chou, is beautifully rendered, evoking charm without being overly saccharine. A touch or swipe with a finger can make flowers grow, ducks glide, balloons pop and children laugh. The app costs $4 on iTunes and is appropriate for children ages 4 and up.

If the thought of placing an iPad in tiny hands gives you pause, consider the SuperShell from M-Edge, a simple foam cover that costs $35. Its dimpled surfaces have a latticework of ridges, making it easy to grip, and padded corners provide extra protection.

The LeapsterGS from LeapFrog is thinner than its predecessor, but it has more features, like a built-in camera, video recorder and microphone.

For little learners, LeapFrog has added more muscle to its Leapster gaming system. The LeapsterGS, which is intended for children ages 4 to 9 and costs $70, has new features, like a built-in camera, video recorder and microphone. It also has a larger screen, a faster processor and more memory. One of its best advancements, however, is a motion sensor, which allows children to play games by jiggling, tilting and turning the device.

For outdoor play, Hasbro has updated its Lazer Tag battle system with so-called augmented reality via the iPhone. The game, intended for children ages 9 and up, works with a free app that turns the iPhone into a view screen when it is secured in the rugged blaster. Players can train with the single-player mode, then switch to the multiplayer mode and engage their friends in battle. A single blaster costs $40, but Hasbro recently released a blaster two-pack for $75.

One of the biggest trends this year among toymakers was to create iPad versions of their existing brands. This resulted in a combination of physical toy and digital app, creating a new twist on family game night.

Hasbro’s Zapped line includes iPad-enhanced editions of Monopoly ($30, ages 8 and up) and the Game of Life ($25, ages 8 and up) in which the tablet acts as a sort of game show host, prompting players to take their turns. The games also have special features that can be unlocked as players move around the board, like minigames and animation.

The Batman Apptivity toys use pressure-sensitive technology to interact with a downloadable game.

One of the first offerings in the Apptivity line from Mattel was Batman, inspired by the summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight Rises” and appropriate for children ages 9 and up. A Batman toy glides over the surface of the iPad, fighting villains without scratching the screen. Apptivity games, which cost $10 to $20, were also created for Mattel’s Hot Wheels and WWE Rumblers toy lines, as well as toys that unlock exclusive features for existing Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Cut the Rope games.

For more experienced video game players, Nintendo released its much-anticipated Wii U home console on Sunday. The console, which starts at $300, introduces GamePad, a touch-screen controller that players use to interact with games and entertainment. Twenty-three games were published to coincide with the release, with 29 more planned by the end of March. If you are lucky enough to find one this holiday season, be prepared to forfeit your living room.

Fan Sites Settle Children’s Privacy Charges

In a complaint, the Federal Trade Commission said that Artist Arena, the operator of the sites, violated a children’s online privacy rule by collecting personal details — like the names, e-mail addresses, street addresses and cellphone numbers — of about 101,000 children aged 12 or younger without their parents’ permission.

The law, called the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or Coppa, requires operators of Web sites to notify parents and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using or disclosing personal information about children younger than 13.

The sites are BieberFever.com, SelenaGomez.com, RihannaNow.com and DemiLovatoFanClub, which is no longer in operation. The agency did not accuse the pop stars themselves of any wrongdoing.

At a conference on children’s marketing in New York on Wednesday, Edith Ramirez, a member of the F.T.C., said the settlement still required ratification in court.

As part of the registration process, the four fan sites asked users to submit personal details including their birth dates that would enable members to create online profiles, post messages and sign up for newsletters about the pop stars, the complaint said. Because the sites therefore knew the children’s ages, the F.T.C. charged, the company had knowingly collected information and failed to properly notify their parents.

“These were fan sites that knew that a very substantial percentage of users were 12 or under,” said David C. Vladeck, the director of the F.T.C.’s bureau of consumer protection. “There is really no excuse for violations like these.”

Artist Arena, a division of the Warner Music Group that manages artist fan clubs, neither admitted nor denied the agency’s allegations. Warner first invested in Artist Arena in 2007 and bought the company in 2010. James Steven, a spokesman for Artist Arena, declined to comment. The fan sites no longer allow children under 13 to register as members.

The proposed settlement comes at a time when the agency is preparing to extensively strengthen the children’s online privacy protection rule for the first time since its introduction more than a decade ago.

In an effort to keep pace with innovations like mobile apps and facial recognition technology, the agency has proposed to widen both the kinds of data about children that would require parental consent and the kinds of operators — like advertising networks or data miners — whose activities could be subject to the rule.

Last week, major corporations including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Viacom responded, submitting public comments to the F.T.C. in which they argued that some of the proposed changes were so unworkable that they could deter companies from providing sites and online services to children.

“To ensure that the Internet continues to be a robust and enriching place for children, the commission should avoid promulgating rules that frustrate operators’ ability to continue providing the same quantity and quality of sites and online services, including those that are directed to children,” Michael D. Hintze, Microsoft’s chief privacy counsel, wrote in comments to the agency.

But the case of the pop star Web sites bolsters the viability of at least one of the agency’s proposals: that child-friendly sites aimed at audiences of varying ages must either assume all users are under 13, or screen users for age to identify those for whom data collection requires prior parental consent.

Some companies, like Viacom, have objected to this proposed change, saying that such a screening process might cause some sites to block children from participating or deter some children, who might then end up on inappropriate adult sites that do not screen users for age.

But BieberFever.com and the other fan sites, even if they failed to properly notify parents, seemed to be able to collect information on tens of thousands of children who willingly identified themselves as being younger than 13.

“Marketers need to know that even a bad case of Bieber Fever doesn’t excuse their legal obligation to get parental consent before collecting personal information from children,” Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the F.T.C., said in a statement. “The F.T.C. is in the process of updating the Coppa rule to ensure it continues to protect kids growing up in the digital age.”

Each of the fan Web sites had slightly different registration processes. But the agency charged that Artist Arena had falsely claimed that it would not activate a child’s registration without parental consent.

SelenaGomez.com, for example, required users who wanted to sign up for the online fan newsletter to enter information like their e-mail address, birth date, parent’s name and e-mail address, and in some cases full name, city, state and ZIP code as well, according to the complaint. The child then received an on-screen notice that said “registration successful” and was able to edit his or her online profile, the complaint said.

The site sent the child’s parent an e-mail saying that it needed parental consent to complete the child’s registration. According to to the complaint, the e-mail falsely stated that if a parent did not want to approve the child’s registration, “you do not need to do anything else: simply do not click on the above link.” Regardless of the parent’s actions, the site had already registered the child, the complaint said.

From April 25, 2010, to Aug. 2, 2011, SelenaGomez.com registered 10,026 children for its fan newsletter and 2,196 children for its fan club. The site also collected and kept information on 48,531 children who started but did not finish the registration process, the complaint said.

As part of the settlement, Artist Arena agreed to delete the personal information about children under 13. The company also agreed that the sites, in places where they collect personal data, would prominently display links to a federal Web site, www.OnGuardOnline.gov, that offers information on protecting children’s privacy online.

Real ‘Children’s Hospital’ — We’re NOT Affiliated with Bloody Clowns

Real 'Children's Hospital'
We're NOT Affiliated
with Bloody Clowns "Children's Hospital" is a hilarious comedy about a crazy clown doctor who sometimes kills his patients.

Children's Hospital is also a REAL HOSPITAL in L.A. ... that tries really hard NOT to kill its patients.

But there was some legitimate confusion between the two ... thanks to a recent billboard featuring one of the actors wearing blood-soaked scrubs and a creepy smile.

Turns out, ads for the TV show sprung up all over L.A. in the past couple of weeks, featuring the clown doctor and other characters in undoctorly situations (like flipping the bird).

But the real lifesaving facility also happens to be in the middle of a "branding campaign" ... and received complaints from people who were mistaking the TV ads for the REAL Children's Hospital L.A. (CHLA).

In fact, TMZ has learned ... the honchos at Children's Hospital L.A. fired off an internal memo assuring staff that clown doctors wearing bloody scrubs are NOT a part of the hospital's new image.

In the memo, a rep for the hospital writes, "It has been brought to our attention that there is some confusion surrounding a series of area billboards and bus stop advertisements promoting the adult television show Childrens Hospital."

"Please be advised that the advertisements are in no way associated with CHLA."

So in conclusion, clown doctors aren't real ... don't let them operate on your kids.

F.T.C. Proposes Tighter Rules for Children’s Web Sites

The proposal expands restrictions that the commission originally proposed last fall after it found that regulations governing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act had not kept up with advances in Internet technology.

The commission’s proposals were released publicly after they were first disclosed by The Wall Street Journal.

If adopted by the commission, the proposed rules would dictate that both the operator of a Web site that is directed at children and any third-party advertising network or application — like a company that provides the software behind a chat function — would be responsible for complying with the child privacy law, generally known as Coppa.

The act already requires Web companies to notify parents and obtain consent when personal information is collected from children under the age of 13. But the law, which took effect in 2000 — four years before the start-up of Facebook — did not envision the now common practice of including add-ons on children’s sites.

As written, the privacy act applies to a Web site operator, but not to a third-party supplier of other functions, said Mary K. Engle, associate director of advertising practices at the F.T.C. “The proposal would close an apparent or possible loophole in the rule,” she said.

Other tweaks in the proposed rule would address sites that are used by both children and adults. Where the current rule treats all visitors as being under 13, the proposed rule would allow a Web site that attracts both children and adults to screen users by asking their age and applying the privacy protections only to those who say they are under 13.

That kind of self-reporting can be manipulated. Facebook, for example, currently requires a user to be at least 13, but many children misrepresent their age, often with parental permission.

In a comment to the commission addressing the changes proposed last year, Facebook said that it had tiered screening, including “technical checks at sign-up, social verifications and reports from our community to help identify child accounts,” which were deleted once they are identified.

Facebook is reported to be considering opening itself to younger users. Until it does so, the proposed rules would not directly apply to the company’s social network site. But it would apply, Ms. Engle said, to instances where Web sites directed at children include one of Facebook’s “like” buttons or a similar application.

Web sites whose overall content is likely to attract children under 13 as their primary audience would be required to treat all users as children, even if the site attracted some teenagers and older users.

Some consumer groups support the stricter proposals. Ioana Rusu, regulatory counsel for the Consumers Union, said in a statement that the proposal made “it clear to industry partners that protecting children’s online privacy is a shared priority.”

The commission also has proposed modifying its definition of personal information that can be collected from youth. The proposed rules say that includes any “persistent identifier” that can be used “to recognize a user over time, or across different sites or services” would be covered, except in certain instances.

Those exceptions include contextual advertisements to users but not the use of behaviorally targeted advertising. Also allowed are the use of persistent identifiers for maintaining user preferences or protecting against fraud.

Public comments on the proposals will be received by the F.T.C. until Sept. 10.

The regulations, which the commission intends to complete by the end of the year, are the result of a review begun in 2010. That was the commission’s first review of the privacy act since 2005.

F.T.C. Proposes Tighter Rules for Children’s Web Sites

The proposal expands restrictions that the commission originally proposed last fall after it found that regulations governing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act had not kept up with advances in Internet technology.

The commission’s proposals were released publicly after they were first disclosed by The Wall Street Journal.

If adopted by the commission, the proposed rules would dictate that both the operator of a Web site that is directed at children and any third-party advertising network or application — like a company that provides the software behind a chat function — would be responsible for complying with the child privacy law, generally known as Coppa.

The act already requires Web companies to notify parents and obtain consent when personal information is collected from children under the age of 13. But the law, which took effect in 2000 — four years before the start-up of Facebook — did not envision the now common practice of including add-ons on children’s sites.

As written, the privacy act applies to a Web site operator, but not to a third-party supplier of other functions, said Mary K. Engle, associate director of advertising practices at the F.T.C. “The proposal would close an apparent or possible loophole in the rule,” she said.

Other tweaks in the proposed rule would address sites that are used by both children and adults. Where the current rule treats all visitors as being under 13, the proposed rule would allow a Web site that attracts both children and adults to screen users by asking their age and applying the privacy protections only to those who say they are under 13.

That kind of self-reporting can be manipulated. Facebook, for example, currently requires a user to be at least 13, but many children misrepresent their age, often with parental permission.

In a comment to the commission addressing the changes proposed last year, Facebook said that it had tiered screening, including “technical checks at sign-up, social verifications and reports from our community to help identify child accounts,” which were deleted once they are identified.

Facebook is reported to be considering opening itself to younger users. Until it does so, the proposed rules would not directly apply to the company’s social network site. But it would apply, Ms. Engle said, to instances where Web sites directed at children include one of Facebook’s “like” buttons or a similar application.

Web sites whose overall content is likely to attract children under 13 as their primary audience would be required to treat all users as children, even if the site attracted some teenagers and older users.

Some consumer groups support the stricter proposals. Ioana Rusu, regulatory counsel for the Consumers Union, said in a statement that the proposal made “it clear to industry partners that protecting children’s online privacy is a shared priority.”

The commission also has proposed modifying its definition of personal information that can be collected from youth. The proposed rules say that includes any “persistent identifier” that can be used “to recognize a user over time, or across different sites or services” would be covered, except in certain instances.

Those exceptions include contextual advertisements to users but not the use of behaviorally targeted advertising. Also allowed are the use of persistent identifiers for maintaining user preferences or protecting against fraud.

Public comments on the proposals will be received by the F.T.C. until Sept. 10.

The regulations, which the commission intends to complete by the end of the year, are the result of a review begun in 2010. That was the commission’s first review of the privacy act since 2005.