Friday, April 21, marks the day the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act takes effect, meaning Web sites that gather personal data will have to receive parental permission before gathering information from children younger than 13 years old.

The new law was drafted to make sure contact information for younger children -- including e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, schools attended, and other data -- is hard to obtain. The law is intended to protect children from a range of potential problems, ranging from marketing firms to stalkers, proponents say.

To comply with the new regulations, several popular Web sites and portals, including America Online, will no longer allow children to use membership directories, the Associated Press reports.

The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for enforcing the new law. The various new privacy measures depend on how much information any given site collects. Sites are required to obtain consent through regular mail, via fax, digital signatures or a verifiable credit card number, the New York Times reports.

Opponents of the new law say it will cause a backlash of unintended effects and may cost some companies as much as $60,000 annually, the newspaper reports.

Meanwhile, the FTC continues to compile information for a study on Web privacy that could determine if a privacy bill aimed at protecting adults will be introduced in Congress.

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