CMA RELEASES TEEN MARKETING STANDARDS
By Adnews Staff
The Canadian Marketing Association has released new directives for its 800 members who market to teenagers. The standards, which the association describes as the first of their kind for the industry, are intended to raise the level of privacy protection for teenagers and to provide guidance to marketers in the areas of parental consent, marketing techniques, language and commercial transactions. According to the guidelines, marketers can deal directly with teens to collect and use contact information such as name, address, email address, home phone number and cell phone number once the teen has reached 13 years of age and only if express consent has been provided. Parental consent is required for the collection of any additional information from teens 13 to 16 years of age or for the disclosure of contact or personal information to third parties. Under the new standards marketers are directed not to suggest that a teen does not need to consult or obtain consent from a parent or guardian for a purchase. Marketers are also directed not to use questions that encourage teenagers to supply false information or indicate parental or guardian consent has been given when it has not. The collection of household information or information about friends or peers is prohibited. Household information includes income, number of cars, people or appliances, education of household members or vacation destinations. At any point if a parent or guardian revokes or declines consent, CMA members are required to delete all information that has been obtained from the teen. The new standards will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2003 and will be incorporated into the CMA's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, which all association members are required to follow.