Dear Santa.....

I stopped by SantaTrackingStation.com the other day to chat with Oliver D. Elf. But Oliver's chat page said he was busy "reporting for the Candy Cane Post" and updating his blog, "Diary of an Elf." So instead I decided to write to the Big Man himself and ask about the recent toy recalls, especially the ones that were pulled because their surface paints might contain excessive levels of lead:

Dear Santa: Last year you brought me a Cookie Monster Saxophone but my mom took it away. She said it was bad for me. If I'm good this year can I have a new one that I can keep? We will leave you an extra cookie! Thank you, Santa. Love, Mark

The Cookie Monster Saxophone was one of the toys that Fisher-Price and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced was being recalled back in August. In fact my message was not all that fair to St. Nick, since the recalled saxophones were all manufactured between April and July -- well after last Christmas. Toy expert that he is, Santa probably saw right through my note -- which may well be why I have not heard back from him yet. The Web site said to "expect a prompt reply. Santa is now email savvy and responds quickly to his favorite kids." Guess I should keep my Christmas morning expectations in check this year.

SantaTrackingStation is a Web site built and maintained by Macerich Co., a Santa Monica, Calif., development company that owns and operates dozens of shopping malls -- more than 77 million square feet of shopping space at 73 centers across the country.

The site lets customers know when Santa will be arriving at their local Macerich mall. But, as its privacy policy makes clear, the site also collects information that Macerich can use "to update you on sales, specials, programs, events, promotions, services, products or other opportunities provided by us, our merchants and/or our business partners, remind you of important occasions, and/or personalize your shopping experience."

The privacy policy emphasizes that protecting children under the age of 13 "is of the utmost importance to Macerich. . . . We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children without parental or guardian consent." However, many functions of SantaTrackingStation.com seem to be designed specifically to harvest contact info from kids. In addition to the Elf chat and the "Letter to Santa" functions, there's a "Create a Card" tool and a "Tell a Friend" feature (illustrated by a photo of two young girls whispering to one another). And none of these features asks users to confirm that they are 13 or older -- as if that would matter anyway.

I'll let you know if I hear back from Santa or Oliver D. Elf on any of this -- including the Cookie Monster Saxophone.