Why can’t my child under 13 choose their own username?
In the United States, children under 13 are not allowed to enter free-text on websites without parental approval per COPPA, the Child Online Privacy Protection Act. BiblioCommons is designed to be in compliance with COPPA. This allows children under the age of 13 to participate in features like rating titles and creating lists, yet still protects their online privacy.
An important feature of COPPA is to restrict the use of free text by children under 13 which affects the creation of usernames. During initial sign up, children are given the opportunity to select a color and an animal as their username. A unique number identifier is added if somebody else has already chosen that combination, for example, violet_squirrel_12.
If your child wants a different username, they can go into their account settings and choose a new color/animal combination. Once a child turns 13, he or she will be able to select a username and have other free-text options available.
