Posted by kathryn in Kid's nutrition

According to the latest Parent’s Jury newsletter it’s increasingly common for food companies to collect personal information about children and adolescents through websites, competitions and promotions. This information is often used to market directly to kids through emails, sms and direct mail.

I guess this has always taken place, I can certainly remember filling out vouchers for competitions and giveaways when I was younger. The key difference now is the ease and cheapness of sending out information. Printing letters and marketing material and sending them through the post is an expensive exercise. In return, you have to be quite motivated to fill out a form, put it in an envelope, get a stamp and drop it in the post box.

However, registering online is easy. Plus sending out emails and sms is relatively cheap and you can reach a large audience through one campaign. In consequence companies are doing it more often, and the methods they are using are becoming more sophisticated.

The other difference is that when I was younger and received information through the mail, my parents were aware of it and would see what I had been sent. However, sms and emails are much more private forms of communication. Parents are not necessarily always aware of what their children receive and can’t counter-act the marketing.

Legally, kids have to get their parents permission before registering online, but most sites just ask children to tick a box to indicate their parents have consented and there’s no way the company can know if this is true or not.

The Parent’s Jury give the example of Uncle Tobys Roll-Ups Frubalia website . There are games and downloadables on the site and much of it is available without registration. However children must provide their name, email address and birthdate if they would like to post scores, collect online credits or receive the newsletter. There is a reminder to “check with your parents that it’s ok for you to receive messages from Frubalia”, but the company has no way of knowing if children have done this.

The Parent’s Jury believe it’s possible food companies may have breached the Spam Act and / or the Privacy Act if they obtain personal information from children and use it for direct marketing. They are asking parents to let them know if your children are receiving direct marketing (via emails, sms or snail mail), without your consent.

10 May, 2007