User blog comment:Semanticdrifter/Updates to COPPA/@comment-3335785-20130624225658/@comment-4811793-20130625000750

I have seen some great ideas here. One issue with what you (and others) are proposing is that a checkbox for verifying that you are at least 13 before you can edit has been specifically called out as insufficient by the FTC.

"Avoiding encouraging children to falsify their age information, for example, by stating that visitors under 13 cannot participate or should ask their parents before participating. In addition, simply including a check box stating, “I am over 12 years old” would not be considered a neutral age-screening mechanism."

So we would be left with asking for a date of birth on every edit, which is arguably not any more convenient than registering for an account, and does create certain implementation issues.

That being said, it is clear that many of our communities feel passionately about their anonymous contributors and we hear that. While this policy is required at this time, we will be monitoring contribution data and community health with the change and evaluating if there are better ways to protect children and be COPPA compliant, while taking the desires of our communities into account. We will definitely keep these suggestions in mind as we consider this issue going forward.