CARU® NEWS
For Immediate Release
Contact: Linda Bean
212.705.0129
CARU REFERS CHAT ROOM OPERATOR TO THE FTC
CARU Finds ‘1 Chat Avenue’ Violated Children’s Online Privacy Protection
New York, NY – November 20, 2006 – The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the
Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB), has referred 1 Chat Avenue, the operator of
Chat-Avenue.com and Kidschat.net, to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in accordance
with CARU’s Procedures.
The two Websites came to the attention of CARU, the children’s advertising industry’s self-
regulatory forum, through CARU’s ongoing monitoring of the Internet to assure that Websites
directed at children comply with CARU’s Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children’s
Advertising (the Guidelines) and the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
(COPPA.)
Both Websites feature free chat rooms for kids. The Chat-Avenue site links to other chat sites
and services.
CARU was concerned when initially observing the Website because children were identifying
themselves as being under the age of 13 and a number of them posted modified email addresses
and Instant Message usernames. Of more concern to CARU was the fact that a number of adults
were posting requests to chat with children under the age of 13. When a CARU staff member
went on the site, she was able to easily post personally identifiable information such as name,
street address and phone number. When a CARU staff member posed as an 11-year-old, she
was immediately approached to enter a private chat and encouraged to engage in sex talk by a
user that identified him as being 22 years old.
Before pursuing its inquiries into 1 Chat Avenue’s compliance with the Guidelines and COPPA,
CARU notified an appropriate law enforcement agency.
CARU’s inquiries focused on key Internet safety issues, including:
• Whether the Websites had in place mechanisms to obtain parental consent for
children under 13 years of age and provide for neutral age-s