Your kids’ web activity is likely being tracked – and the data may be sold to marketers to create ads targeted at your young ones.  That’s according to a major WSJ investigation into online privacy, published this past weekend.  The story, by Steve Stecklow, reported that popular children’s websites install more tracking technologies on personal computers than do the top websites aimed at adults.

According to the piece, the tiny tracking tools on these popular kids’ sites (a list can be found here) are used by data-collection companies to follow people as they surf the Internet and to build profiles detailing their online activities, which advertisers and others buy. The profiles don’t include names, but can include lots of other detailed information: age, tastes, hobbies, shopping habits, race, likelihood to post comments and general location, such as city. In many cases, ads help to support free content on these sites, and advertisers often pay a premium for more targeted customer information.

Selling the data is legal, but controversial, especially when it involves young people. Many kids’ sites are heavily dependent on advertising which likely explains the presence of so many tracking tools. Research has shown children influence hundreds of billions of dollars in annual family purchases. The data collected may be used to deliver targeted ads that zero in on kids’ concerns—say, dieting ads aimed at youngsters worried about their weight, the article says.

via Your Kids Are Being Tracked Online – The Juggle – WSJ.