Toy manufacturer settles charges with government

WASHINGTON - A manufacturer of toys and school supplies for girls settled government charges that it used its Web site to collect personal information from children without their parents' permission.

Lisa Frank Inc. will pay $30,000 in fines to settle charges it violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday. The company also must change its Web site to provide more information about federal privacy laws.

Lawyers for the Tucson, Ariz.-based company didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.

By settling, the company doesn't admit it broke any law, the FTC said.

The government charged that the company asked girls to fill out a form before they were allowed access to many areas of the Web site. The form demanded the girls' first and last names, street addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and birth dates.

Federal law requires commercial Web sites to carry privacy policy statements, get "verifiable parental consent" before soliciting information from children and provide an opportunity to remove the information.