Safe social networking and blogging community for kids
Imbee.com, founded in 2006 with $6 million in funding from founder Jeanette Symons, and then another round of investing from Disney — reportedly $2.5 million, servers are down indefinitely.
Imbee had more than 100,000 kids on its kid-friendly network when it was delt two huge blows that resulted in its demise. As original founding members, we watched Imbee grow over the past 3 years, and believed passionately in what the community stood for. We are deeply saddened.
First, the Federal Trade Commission simultaneously filed and settled a civil lawsuit against the operators of the kids-only social networking site for privacy violations. Imbee was intended as a safe social networking and blogging community for kids 8 to 14, but it screwed up by letting children register up front with their full name, date of birth and e-mail address. And if the parents didn’t activate, Imbee held on to the tot’s data anyway. Only after the child provided the information did Imbee send an activation e-mail to the parents. That’s considered in breach of COPPA (The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act). Imbee says it was young and didn’t know any better. Regardless, they agreed not to violate COPPA in the future, and paid a $130,000 penalty.
Also, founder and visionary tech entrepreneur, Jeanette Symons passed away in early 2008 when a plane she was flying crashed in the woods outside Augusta, Maine, killing Symons and her 10 year old son. Symons co-founded the family-centered social network Imbee and Industrious Kid.
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