112 STAT. 2681-729 PUBLIC LAW 105-277—OCT. 21, 1998 internal operations of the website and does not disclose or use that information for any other purpose; and (B) making personal information collected from a child by a website or online service directed to children or with actual knowledge that such information was collected from a child, publicly available in identifiable form, by any means including by a public posting, through the Internet, or through— (i) a home page of a website; (ii) a pen pal service; (iii) an electronic mail service; (iv) a message board; or (v) a chat room. (5) FEDERAL AGENCY.— The term "Federal agency" means an agency, as that term is defined in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code. (6) INTERNET.— The term "Internet" means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio. (7) PARENT.— The term "parent" includes a legal guardian. (8) PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The term "personal information" means individually identifiable information about an individual collected online, including— (A) a first and last name; (B) a home or other physical address including street name and name of a city or town; (C) an e-mail address; (D) a telephone number; (E) a Social Security number; (F) any other identifier that the Commission determines permits the physical or online contacting of a specific individual; or (G) information concerning the child or the parents of that child that the website collects online from the child and combines with an identifier described in this paragraph. (9) VERIFL\BLE PARENTAL CONSENT.— The term "verifiable parental consent" means any reasonable effort (taking into consideration available technology), including a request for authorization for future collection, use, and disclosure described in the notice, to ensure that a parent of a child receives notice of the operator's personal information collection, use, and disclosure practices, and authorizes the collection, use, and disclosure, as applicable, of personal information and the subsequent use of that information before that information is collected from that child. (10) WEBSITE OR ONLINE SERVICE DIRECTED TO CHILDREN.— (A) IN GENERAL.— The term "website or online service directed to children" means— (i) a commercial website or online service that is targeted to children; or (ii) that portion of a commercial website or online service that is targeted to children.
�
