Forum:Upcoming Policy Changes

Hello,

We wanted to let you know that in order to comply with federal law, Wikia is reviewing the way it handles communities that may be considered directed to people 12 years of age or younger.

This wiki has been flagged as falling into that category, and I wanted to let you know about it. While I am sure this wiki has many fans of all ages, it can also be especially appealing to the younger demographic for purposes of the newly revised Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The only change you will notice is that we will be turning anonymous editing and commenting off for wikis in this category. Your users will still be able to edit and participate. They just need to make sure that they are logged in first. We hope the impact on your community will be minimal.

We realize this might be an inconvenience, but this is a step Wikia has to take in order to make sure we are in compliance with federal law. You can find out more about COPPA here: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/12/coppa.shtm.

The changes to the law will be going into effect July 1st, 2013 although you may see some changes before then. Be sure to keep an eye on Community Central where e will be announcing these updates to the wider Wikia Community on Monday on the staff blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks, and Happy Editing! --semanticdrifter (help forum | blog) 01:13, June 21, 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for reporting this to us. We have a lot of trouble with wikia contributors giving personal information to us believing we are the "real Winx Club" so I'm glad that wikia is making the decision to stop them. Once again, thank you for making us alert to this situation :) -- ✿Brittney ~ Fata Della Natura✿  08:45, June 21, 2013 (UTC)

Thanks so much for informing us... Really appreciate your work :)!  ღRoseThorn   -    7 :  i l  n u m e r o  p e r f e t t o    ღ   11:32, June 21, 2013 (UTC)

Thank you very much for letting us know :33! 04:21, June 22, 2013 (UTC)

Blog Post Up
For more info on this change, please see the Community Central blog post. Feel free to comment on the general policy there, and keep the wiki specific discussion here. Thanks, --semanticdrifter (help forum | blog) 18:44, June 24, 2013 (UTC)