Web sites fined for violating children's privacy policy

Three Web site operators will pay a combined $100,000 in fines for illegally collecting children's personal information without their parents' permission. The settlements, announced Thursday by the Federal Trade Commission, require the operators of Girlslife.com, BigMailBox.com and Insidetheweb.com to delete personal information collected online in the past year from children under 13. The FTC charged the companies with collecting children's names, addresses and telephone numbers without their parents' permission and without posting appropriate privacy policies. Those are violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which took effect last April. The sites provide message boards and free e-mail addresses, as well as articles, advice columns and quizzes geared toward preteen and teenage girls. Monarch Services Inc. and Girls' Life Inc. operate Girlslife.com. BigMailBox.com Inc. and Nolan Quan run BigMailBox.com, and LookSmart Ltd. operates Insidetheweb.com.