Problems with COPPA user field - why is it there?

[Zachery]

Users do not have to be the COPPA/Awaiting Moderation usergroup. That is a holding group for unapproved users. Users can later get moved into a different usergroup and still require COPPA be enabled on them.

[Wayne Luke]

Thanks for the explanation Wayne. My point was that finding these users is simple - they are already contained in a usergroup called "COPPA" that is in the default vb install hence this separate field is redundant and another place not to remember to look. My second point is that having a manually set field means that users who do NOT fall under COPPA (e.g. they pass their 13th birthday) are still identified as COPPA users during the passage of time. This is because the button is dependent on a manual entry, not the age entered into the system as it should be to account for the passage of time, e.g. as opposed to setting an groups entry to move all users from COPPA group to registered if their birthday age is greater than 13.

Actually since you have an older install, your usergroup is misnamed. The COPPA shouldn't be there and does nothing to signify if they are actually a COPPA user. After a COPPA registration is approved by their parents, they would be moved to the Registered User's group like any other user. The usergroup you're referring to is actually (COPPA) Users Awaiting Moderation and includes all users placed in the Moderation Queue for any reason. In later installs of vBulletin the (COPPA) was dropped from the usergroup name to clear up this confusion. The COPPA field is the only valid determination if they are in fact registered under COPPA. Some addons in the past used this field for other age checks as well but age check isn't the default purpose.

Understood but the button isn't doing any of the above protection measures. Problem is that "simply unmark the box" doesn't work for an integrated registration system. Right now I'm working on a way to enter the correct option field from the integration script. As I mentioned, the problem is that there isn't a way to globally disable this feature - only from the registration process. This might be an item you may want to implement or remove this field, something international users might like to have as well.

You can disable COPPA in vBulletin. You can update the field with a simple query. Integrated Registration with other software is not something we can provide advice on. I doubt the field will be removed since it is required for potential law enforcement in our largest market segment, which is customers who have a place of business in the United States or hosted on servers in the United States.