• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, February 10, 2016

A Web site for the best-selling children's book series Dork Diaries did not comply with privacy rules, according to an industry watchdog.

DorkDiaries.com allowed children to join a fan club, and sign up for newsletters, by submitting their email addresses. But the site failed to take adequate measures to obtain a parent's permission, the Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Better Business Bureau said on Tuesday.

The federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act prohibits operators of sites aimed at children under 13 from collecting personally identifiable information -- including email addresses -- without parental consent.

The site asked users who provided who signed up for the fan club and newsletter to either check a box stating they're over 13, or to confirm that they asked a parent to read a notice stating that the site retained children's personal information.

Users who said they were younger than 13 and wanted to join the fan club also were asked to provide a parent's email address. But investigators who tested that function didn't receive a follow up email, according to the watchdog.

"COPPA requires an operator to make reasonable efforts to ensure that the parent receives notice," the Children's Advertising Review Unit wrote in its opinion. "Here, a child visiting the site could easily check the box to indicate that the parent ... agrees to the information collection without notifying a parent."

A site operator told the watchdog that the fan club and email newsletter subscription had the same function, and that parental notification letters were often delayed because they were sent out manually, according to the opinion. The operator also no longer offers a separate sign up for the fan club newsletter.

The site also has updated its age-verification system and now notifies parents "in a timely manner," according to the Children's Advertising Review Unit.