The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is intended to control what information is collected from children under the age of 13. It applies to operators of commercial websites and online services that collect, use, or disclose information from site visitors.

For detailed information about COPPA, refer to the following:

Bazaarvoice gives you the option to block users under any age from contributing content to your sites. Although COPPA protections apply only to children under 13, you can choose to block all users under 18, for example.

Using the following methods, you can design Bazaarvoice content submission forms and profile pages to discourage users from falsifying their age, and to detect and block underage users:

  • Implement a neutral age-screening mechanism on the content submission form or profile page where:
    • Users can select an age range, such as 17 or under.
    • No indication or message is displayed that alerts a visitor that they must be 18 years or older to contribute.
  • Add a COPPA cookie for users under 18 years old, which recognizes the user agent or IP address and prevents the user from:
    • Using the Back button to enter a different age.
    • Using the same device and browser to log in at a later time and submit content.

    The cookie persists for 365 days.

Note: The age-screening mechanism is always enabled and is not affected by user authentication or by how a visitor accesses your site. For example, age-screening works the same whether the visitor selects the Write a review link on a retailer site or an email link that opens the review submission form. Bazaarvoice cannot provide you with guidance on COPPA, and in no event should this document be construed as such.