New York, NY - May 7th 1999 - The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) announces that the Roaring Mouse Entertainment Website has made modifications to its Website in the spirit of self-regulation.

The Roaring Mouse Entertainment Website came to the attention of CARU through its routine monitoring of the World Wide Web. CARU noted the Website's lack of a privacy policy, the various areas where personal information, including name, e-mail address and street address, were collected, and "cookies" that collected aggregate user information. CARU's Self Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising provide that "…in the case of data collection from children, reasonable efforts should be made to establish that notice is offered to, and choice exercised by a parent or guardian." Also, the Guidelines require a disclosure with stated reasons for the data collection be made prominent before any tracking and information gathering practices may occur.

CARU recommended that the Website amend several of its privacy practices to comply with these Guidelines. Changes made to the Website by Roaring Mouse to date include: a) addition of a comprehensive privacy policy, b) addition of a parental consent registration form, c) removal of all requests for a street address and d) removal of a guest book that included messages and access to email addresses from children under 12. CARU has recommended further changes and anticipates Roaring Mouse Entertainment will comply.

CARU's inquiry was conducted under NAD/NARB/CARU Procedures for the Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising. Details of the initial inquiry, CARU's investigation and the advertiser's response will be included in the next CARU Activity Report.