The federal government on Wednesday announced a landmark update to child online privacy laws, establishing guidelines that make it harder to track a gadget-obsessed generation with constant access to the Web.

The Federal Trade Commission’s new rules come amid a two-year debate over how far the government should go to protect the privacy of children 12 and younger without curbing the business practices of a thriving Web economy that relies on their data for advertising.

F.T.C. Releases COPPA Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) Rules Update [washingtonpost.com]

Under new amendments, the FTC said firms must seek permission from parents to collect a child’s photographs, videos and geo-locational information — all content that social media, online games and mobile devices have made easy to share.

The consumer protection agency said it will also “close a loophole” that had allowed kid-directed apps and Web sites to allow third-party plug-ins such as Facebook and Twitter to collect personal information about children without a parental notice.