February 15th, 2000
Tech Watch; Ads in Computer Lab
By Washington Post
The message is enticing: "Want a free computer lab for your school? Click here."
More than 1,400 schools have accepted that offer from a San Ramon, Calif., company called ZapMe Corp., each one receiving five to 15 free computers with high-speed Internet connections. The price? Allowing ads to be flashed in a corner of the computer screen.
A Washington-based consumer advocacy group, Commercial Alert, says ZapMe is violating student privacy by creating "a captive audience of children in order to extract market research from them." Commercial Alert has sent letters to the nation’s governors asking them to push for laws that would require companies to seek parental permission before collecting marketing information from children.
ZapMe Chief Executive Officer Rick Inatome said the company knows only the age and sex of each computer user. He added that the company does not oppose a new California law requiring a public hearing before a school can sign any contract exposing children to advertising.
After complaints from some schools, ZapMe removed a feature from its program that allowed students to shop in an online ZapMall.
More information is available at the company’s Web site, http://www.zapme.com, and at the Web site of Commercial Alert, http://www.essential.org/alert.