KidsCom.com Privacy Policy
For more than twelve (12) years, KidsCom.com has been striving to create safe, educational and entertaining electronic playgrounds for kids 8 to 15. In that time, kids, parents and teachers from more than 120 countries around the world have joined us. Our mission is to give kids a voice to the world and to each other through a variety of engaging activities.
Anyone can play on KidsCom.com. It is free and Idea Seeker or Ally registration is not required. Some areas of the site, however, are reserved for registered Idea Seeker Members and Allies who have obtained their parent's permission.
KidsCom.com follows the FTC guidelines for compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and Rule. No personal information provided to KidsCom.com by its registered Idea Seeker Members or Allies is sold or rented to any third parties (COPPA).
Idea Seeker Registration
Who needs to register?
Registration is not required to play on and explore much of KidsCom.com. Registering as an Idea Seeker Member or Ally is only required for kids who want to chat on KidsCom.com, earn KidsKash for cool stuff in the Loot Locker, answer KidsKash Questions, join the Find a KeyPal program, adopt and care for a Plant Baby, explore many areas of the Idea Seeker Universe and be included in other special activities and promotions. KidsCom.com does not require, as a condition of participation, any Idea Seeker Member or Ally to disclose more information than is reasonably necessary for them to participate in an activity. An enhanced membership is available. This paid membership provides kids and parents with even more content and activity access.
What info is collected?
KidsCom.com is not permitted to collect more personal information than is reasonably necessary to permit a child to participate in activities on the site.
When a visitor to KidsCom.com wants to post something on the site (like on our monitored message boards or weekly creative writing challenges), we ask kids to provide info that is not personally identifiable (first name only, age and the country they live in). This information is included with their posted content and not used for any other purposes. All postings to KidsCom.com are screened by adult staff members before appearing on the site to help ensure children's online safety and privacy. Users are not allowed to post any personally identifiable information.
When a kid wants to become a registered Idea Seeker Member or Ally, we ask for the following information:
- Child's first name and screen name
- Child's date of birth
- Child's gender
- Child's city, state, zip code, and country
- Parent or guardian's e-mail address
This information is requested regardless of the age of the child. If kids would like to participate in KeyPal or Friend-to-Friend Messaging, it is required that they print out the registration form, have their parent or guardian sign it, and then mail or fax it to us as verification of parental consent to participate in these activities.
KidsCom.com uses this information to create and maintain separate Idea Seeker Ally and Member registration records for each child. E-mail addresses are used to communicate with Idea Seeker Members or Allies and their parents about activities on the site and other features. Date of birth, gender, city state, zip code and country are collected to help us develop the most appropriate content for our visitors. None of this information is sold or rented to any third parties.
We encourage parents to be involved with all of their child's online activities.
On the page where a kid or parent can update a kid's registration information, kids can voluntarily indicate how they learned of KidsCom.com by clicking one of seven choices: A friend, A parent, A search engine, A link from another site, A teacher, Surfing the Web, Some other way. We use this information to help guide our efforts to let more kids, parents and teachers know about KidsCom.com.
All personal information collected on KidsCom.com is done so directly from the parent or child. No personal information is collected from users through cookies or other passive means.
The KidsCom.com site may contain links to sites of sponsors and advertisers whose privacy policy and practices are different than our own. It is important for KidsCom.com visitors to always review a site's privacy policy before releasing any personal information. This includes content and promotions featured on the KidsCom.com site. At no time will KidsCom.com release any personal information we collect to a third-party site without permission of parents or guardians.
KidsCom.com uses every means available to safeguard the personal information of our Idea Seeker Members, Allies and site visitors, including a secure physical location and a protected electronic environment.
What areas on KidsCom.com require Idea Seeker or Ally registration?
Idea Seeker Universe Chat - Kids can chat in the Idea Seeker Universe using our Keep it Safe, Keep it Clean Dictionary or pre-set phrases. KidsCom.com's staff of trained adult chat monitors reviews the chat to ensure that the rules are being followed. Private messaging between kids is not allowed. Idea Seeker Members or Allies are not permitted to share any information that will personally identify them. Idea Seeker Member or Ally registration is required to enable us to enforce the chat rules.
Idea Seeker Plant Babies™ - Registered kids can sprout and care for their very own Idea Seeker Plant Babies. Kids earn Virtual Points by playing certain educational games and fun activities on the KidsCom.com site. Kids then use their Virtual Points to take care of the needs of their Plant Babies. To allow kids of all ages to participate, different Plant Babies require different levels of skill, care and attention. Idea Seeker Plant Babies help kids fight the Darkness of Dumbness and the Clouds of Chaos. Idea Seeker Member or Ally registration is required for earning Virtual Points so we can accurately track each child's point totals.
Find a KeyPal Program-This program, popular with classroom teachers, allows kids to find electronic pen pals from around the world. Only kids with a parent's permission can participate in the program. When kids search for a KeyPal, they'll be given the first name, hometown and country of their KeyPal, plus an e-mail address and other fun facts kids have provided (such as favorite TV show or music group, hobbies, etc.). Kids can have as many KeyPals as they want, but this information is given out just one child at a time to prevent anyone from getting a large number of names at once. This is the only area on KidsCom.com where a child's e-mail address is allowed to be shared. We strongly encourage parents to responsibly monitor their child's e-mail activities. Idea Seeker Member or Ally registration is required to ensure that each child participating in KeyPal has parental permission.
Friend-to-Friend Messaging-Friend-to-Friend messaging allows Idea Seekers (paid members) to send private messages to other kids on their Friends List. Only Idea Seekers with a parent's permission can participate in this program. The messages can only include words from our Keep it Safe, Keep it Clean Dictionary, but we still strongly encourage parents to monitor their child's messages. Idea Seeker registration is required to ensure that each child has parental permission.
KidsKash Points and the Loot Locker-Registered kids can earn KidsKash Points by playing educational games or getting involved in other areas of the KidsCom.com site. These points can be redeemed in our Loot Locker, a collection of kids' merchandise and services contributed by a variety of companies (those companies have no access to Idea Seeker registration information). Idea Seeker registration is required for earning KidsKash Points so we can accurately track each child's point totals.
KidsKash Questions-Registered Idea Seeker Members or Allies can participate in occasional surveys in this area, which we use to gauge kids opinions on social, educational and marketing issues and topics. The responses from KidsKash Questions help guide our development of KidsCom.com and let us understand the topics that are on kids' minds. They also help other companies learn about kids. The results of all surveys we do are always reported in general, or aggregate, terms. We never break down the information to a point where individual children could be identified. Idea Seeker Member or Ally registration is required to ensure that each child participating in KidsKash Questions has parental permission.
We do not release, sell or in any way provide the names or identities of Idea Seeker Members or Allies to any marketers. We do not now and we never have.
Tell-A-Friend Messaging
There are several places on KidsCom where kids can send an e-mail to a friend telling them about the site. The Tell-A-Friend form asks for the sender's first name and their friend's first name and e-mail address. The e-mail address is used only to send an e-mail with information about KidsCom to the friend. It is not stored by KidsCom or used for any other purpose.
Does KidsCom.com use cookies?
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small file that Web sites place on your computer to keep track of some information. On KidsCom.com, cookies do not store any personally identifiable information about you. You do not have to accept the cookies. In most cases, everything will work fine (just a little slower) if you do not accept the cookies. However, to earn KidsKash Points while playing some games on KidsCom.com you need to accept cookies.
Where are cookies used on Kidscom.com?
Cookies are used in two ways on KidsCom.com. KidsCom.com only uses cookies with registered Idea Seeker Members or Allies and does so only to improve the site functionality for registered Idea Seeker Members or Allies or where it is necessary to complete a particular activity. First, cookies are used to keep log-in information in some areas so that registered users can access the site faster. These cookies contain a unique ID number so you can get into areas faster, instead of waiting for our computer to sort through all the different people in our records. These cookies do not track any of your other online activities and do not contain any personally identifiable information. These cookies expire after a certain amount of time and delete themselves from your computer.
Second, cookies are used during some games and activities on KidsCom.com. These are used only when registered users play games for KidsKash Points to keep track of your score. The cookie is created at the beginning of the game. When the game is over, the cookie deletes itself. These cookies do not store any personal information about you and do not track any of your other online activities.
Some of our advertisers may use cookies on our site. KidsCom.com requires those partners to be in full compliance with federal guidelines for children's online safety and privacy. Those cookies cannot be used to collect any personal information from our users.
How can parents update and delete info?
Idea Seeker Members or Allies and parents can view, correct, update and delete personal information provided in the Idea Seeker registration process at any time. They will need the registered child's first name, screen name, date of birth and password. Visit the Idea Seeker registration update page at http://www.kidscom.com/cgi-bin/registration/update.pl for more information.
Parents can prevent further collection or use of their child's personal information by deleting that child's registration on the Idea Seeker registration update page at http://www.kidscom.com/cgi-bin/registration/update.pl or by unsubscribing the child from the Sarillion Monitor newsletter by following the directions contained in the newsletter.
Parents of Idea Seekers (paid members) need to cancel the subscription before they delete a child's registration. Parents who have paid through PayPal should cancel through their PayPal account. Parents who paid by credit card should cancel by contacting us.
Who can parents contact if they have more questions?
If you have any additional questions or concerns about KidsCom.com, please contact the KidsCom.com staff. You can e-mail us at staff@kidscom.com or call us at 414.271.5437.
KidsCom.com is published by Circle 1 Network. Our offices are at 131 West Seeboth Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53204.
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