For the revised discussion, see Thread:620678.
For about three years now, this wiki has been locally blocking users if it is believed that they are underage (less than 13 years old). The problem is that we don't have any clear defined local policy about that (at least not that I can find).
“ | ... a local block doesn't actually accomplish anything as far as COPPA compliance because the law has to do with personally identifiable data collected by the host (FANDOM) so if we don't totally disable the account on our end it doesn't matter ... ... if a community prefers to ban users that have revealed ... they are underage on your community, that is a decision they are free to make. FANDOM does not ask admins to police this aspect of our Terms of Use, but we don't have any rules against it. | „ |
~ Sean M. - FANDOM Community Support |
Clear Evidence
In order for FANDOM to consider a report about a user's age, there must be clear evidence (such as the user stating "I am X years old") and the evidence must be on a logged wiki page (so nothing on a non-logged page like wiki chat or on a non-Wikia website). Additionally, the evidence should not require any type of "detective work" (see Q&A for examples) by the FANDOM staff.
Reasonable Belief
In order for us to consider a local block, there has to be a reasonable belief that the user is underage. We don't have a specific policy outlined, but my personal experience is as follows:
- The user clearly states their age somewhere outside of wiki logs (like a chat service or social media).
- The user states their age in an indirect way by stating how old they were/would be for some past/future date/event.
- The user implies their age by stating something that is commonly associated with a specific age, such as their grade level.
The user's ability to communicate (spelling, grammar, and/or maturity) would NOT count as evidence of their age, but it could be used as an indicator to investigate further.
Opinions Needed
1. So should we make it an official part of our policies that users will be locally blocked if there is a reasonable belief that they are underage?
- A - Yes - We should block users locally when there is a "reasonable belief" for suspected age violations and other users can report them to FANDOM/Wikia Staff if there is "clear evidence".
- B - No - We should let FANDOM/Wikia handle underage users and other users can report them to FANDOM/Wikia Staff if there is clear evidence.
- Other - If you have any other ideas about this question, please post them in your reply.
2. If we stop blocking users locally for suspected age violations, what should we do for users that were already blocked?
- A - Nothing - Just keep them blocked and optionally report them to FANDOM/Wikia Staff if there is clear evidence.
- B - Unblock - Unblock users that were blocked for suspected age violations and report them to FANDOM/Wikia Staff if there is clear evidence.
- Other - If you have any other ideas about this question, please post them in your reply.
Q&A
What "detective work" would FANDOM not accept? |
---|
For example, suppose a user says they are in grade Z and they live in country Y - an admin could look up country Y's school system and see that grade Z is typically an age range that would be considered underage; however, FANDOM/Wikia would look at it and say maybe they were held back in school and it isn't clear evidence. As another example, suppose a user says they are a certain popular person on a social media service - an admin could look up their social media profile and see that they claim to be underage; however, FANDOM/Wikia would look at it and say maybe they are not really that popular person and they were just saying that to get attention. |
What is COPPA? |
---|
COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) is a United States law that basically says service providers (like FANDOM) cannot knowingly collect information from individuals under the age of 13. So when FANDOM discovers that a user is underage, they are required by law to disable the account and delete any personal information associated with it. |