The FTC Reports that Several Kidlit Apps Collect Personal Data From Child Consumers
December 12, 2012
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) analyzed 400 popular kidlit apps and found that only 20% of them are upfront about their data collection practices. The government agency will use these findings to argue for a stricter revision of the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. This law requires websites to obtain parental consent prior to collecting personal data for children ages 13 and under. It is not clear whether or not this law applies to apps as well.
"In many cases, apps were found to collect data such as device ID, name, phone number and location — all pieces of private information that parents wary about their children’s safety would be hesitant to share with app companies, let alone the faceless third parties the app firms share the information with. The study revealed several other equally disturbing facts, like many children’s apps that say they are ad-free do in fact have ads and that privacy disclosures are often overly complex and designed to obfuscate meaning for the parents who bother to read them."