07-15-2020, 10:48 PM
(07-15-2020, 10:27 PM)VinnyVideo Wrote: It's been three years since I first set up MyBB, and upon further review, there is a COPPA setting buried near the bottom of the configuration settings in the Admin Control Panel. I don't know how it works, though, since no one ever tried to test it. I think it was disabled by default, but I don't remember with certainty. I also see an optional forum mailing address and fax number (yes, I'm serious - that's how long ago COPPA was written) if you want to enable this setting. The description for this setting includes a link to an external Web site about COPPA... and it's a 404 error.
phpBB had a lot more COPPA compliance features built into the software, like a COPPA pending group that was included by default. (JaxBoards, another forum system I use, doesn't have any COPPA features at all.)
I'm not an expert in this matter (I don't think anyone here is), but I don't think MFGG is doing anything wrong or illegal here. Even if we're technically not complying with the letter of the law, I think the risk of MFGG getting in trouble is microscopic.
If you really want to start throwing the book at MFGG - and thousands of other nonprofit forums and blogs - I'm sure we're not fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Similarly, while I wrote a really rudimentary privacy policy a couple of years ago, it was never intended to be a bulletproof defense against the GDPR (and similar privacy legislation that other states and countries are working on).
That's all I'm going to say - I'm much older than 13 now and no longer have time to argue about stuff on the Internet!
Wild post, Vinny, I never would have thought of the situation the way you do!
Would you like to join the Minus World discord?