New York, May 1, 2003 – The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB) is pleased to announce that Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc, (Hachette Filipacchi) has agreed to modify Ellegirl.com, the Website of the magazine Ellegirl, in order to protect the privacy of children on its site. The Website, like the magazine, attracts tweens (children eight to twelve years of age) and teens. CARU, which monitors Websites for compliance with CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising (the Guidelines) as well with the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), had found that, although other areas of the Website had effective age screening, children under age 13 who wished to obtain a free T-shirt or a free issue of the magazine could disclose personally identifiable information (PII) (for example, full name, street address, email address, city, state and zip code), to the operator without any age screening and without parental consent as required by the Guidelines and COPPA. In addition, visitors could click on a box that states, "I would like to receive more information periodically on ELLEgirl and third party offers or services," thus allowing this PII to be disseminated to even more parties, all without parental permission.

Hachette Filipacchi has agreed to institute effective age screening at all areas where visitors are asked for PII. The company will also contact parents of children who signed up for these free items and, if the child was younger than age 13, give the parent the option to delete the information or give consent for its retention.

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

Members of the press who wish to see a copy of the decision now should email CARU.

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The National Advertising Review Council (NARC) was formed in 1971 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA), the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Inc. (AAAA), the American Advertising Federation, Inc. (AAF), and the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB). Its purpose is to foster truth and accuracy in national advertising through voluntary self-regulation. NARC is the body that establishes the policies and procedures for the CBBB's National Advertising Division (NAD), the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB).

NAD and CARU are the investigative arms of the advertising industry's voluntary self-regulation program. Their casework results from competitive challenges from other advertisers, and also from self-monitoring traditional and new media, including the Internet. The National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appeals body, is a peer group from which ad-hoc panels are selected to adjudicate those cases that are not resolved at the NAD/CARU level. This unique, self-regulatory system is funded entirely by the business community; CARU is financed by the children's advertising industry, while NAD/NARB's sole source of funding is derived from membership fees paid to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.