AgeCheq has launched a free online survey to help game publishers determine if their games should be modified to comply with the US Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA).

After completing the four-question COPPA Compliance Survey, developers will receive a personalized survey result email detailing any issues with the compliance of their game, including links to specific sections of the federal law related to the issues.

Created during the Clinton administration and enacted in 2000, COPPA was passed to protect children under the age of 13 as they used the internet. With the meteoric rise of mobile devices and the new privacy issues that accompanied them, COPPA was revised in 2012 to cover mobile apps. The revised law went into effect on July 1, 2013.

Understanding exactly what COPPA expects from a game or app can be confusing, says Agecheq, especially given the recent updates and the law’s extension to the multitude of third party APIs utilized by the majority of apps, including ad networks, mobile analytics tools, and social network services, among others.

“All too often, the game developers and publishers we speak to mistakenly think they are in line with COPPA, when in reality there are one or more things they are doing that make them an easy target for severe fines and other penalties under the law,” says AgeCheq CEO, Roy Smith. “We designed the COPPA Compliance Survey to not only open developers’ eyes to compliance issues within their game, but also to give them detailed information they can share with their company’s decision makers to help educate them on COPPA, using the exact wording from the law.”

The COPPA Compliance Survey is free of charge. AgeCheq COPPA compliance experts are also available to personally review developers’ apps and help them consider how COPPA should influence their app’s privacy and data storage practices. AgeCheq team members can also explain why so-called “Safe Harbor” certification programs may not provide complete compliance with the updated version of the law.

Agecheq is encouraging game developers to complete the COPPA Compliance Survey for each of their mobile games or apps and follow the survey’s recommended steps required for immediate COPPA compliance in order to avoid potentially massive fines from The Federal Trade Commission (FTC).