Children’s Privacy on the Line as NM Attorney General Sues App Creator for COPPA Violation

Last week, New Mexico’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the creators and online advertisers of Fun Kid Racing, an app where children race virtual cars using animal cartoon characters. The app, created by Tiny Lab Productions, has been downloaded by millions of users, a huge majority of whom are children.

New Mexico’s attorney general, Hector Balderas, filed suit against app maker, Tiny Lab Productions, including Google, Twitter, and three more online ad companies of a COPPA violation, by allowing hackers, predators, or online marketers access to personal data of more than 13 million children, and by misleading consumers by including the application in the family section of the app store.

A New York Times article also reveals that a number of companies now track consumers via phones to build “behavioral profiles” to create tailored ads, like AdMob and MoPub. Researchers have observed that app developers are able to find a loophole to track users, by indicating that children are not the primary target for their apps. Recent research suggests that app developers may be motivated to mislabel apps as family-oriented rather than child-oriented, since such mischaracterization removes COPPA’s protective mantle and allows them to track users for targeted ads.

In response to the threat of online data collection that affects millions of children, both Apple and Google have introduced children- and family-oriented app sections on their stores, in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Both companies expressly prohibit tracking if an app is to be included in such section as part of their agreement with app developers. However, perhaps stronger measures are needed to protect children's safety.

Check out the New York Times article for more information.

Kids Internet Design and Safety Act Seeks to Protect Children from Harmful Online Content

United States Senators, Mr. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut and Mr. Edward Markey from Massachusetts, introduced a new bill referred to as the Kids Internet Design and Safety Act (the “KIDS Act”). One of the Senator’s introducing the KIDS Act, Mr. Edward Markey, was the co-author of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). The KIDS Act seeks to include noteworthy advertising rules and create new protections for children online, specifically for online users under the age of 16. The proposed advertising rules within the KIDS Act are to ban websites from: (1) exposing young online users to advertisements “with embedded interactive elements”; (2) recommending any content involving alcohol, nicotine, or tobacco to young online users; and (3) recommending content that includes influencer marketing, like unboxing videos, or host-selling to young online users. Additionally, the KIDS Act seeks to prohibit certain online features to protect children, like prohibiting...

After Review, CARU Finds Snapchat Compliant with COPPA

In a recent decision, CARU found Snap Inc.’s (Snap) Snapchat app to be compliant with both the CARU Guidelines and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). “The company goes beyond minimal procedures to prevent under-age use” CARU stated. CARU determined that Snapchat is an app directed to a general audience, not intended for use by children. In reaching this conclusion, CARU considered that Snap’s Terms of Service clearly prohibit users under 13 years of age and makes no effort to market the app to children or provide them with an appealing user experience. With that understanding, Snapchat is permitted under the Guidelines and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) to age-gate and block children under 13 from using its services, which it does. CARU then examined whether Snapchat does so effectively. CARU observed that Snapchat utilizes age-gates and many safeguards to ensure that if children manage to breach the existing age-...

Advocates believe Kid Influencers Deserve Same Protections as Other Child Stars

Although there are child labor laws in California that are designed to protect child stars from exploitation (The Coogan Act), the same protections don't always apply to child YouTube and Instagram stars, or kid influencers. Kid Influencers accounts are usually run by their parents since platforms like YouTube and Instagram have age limits of 13 years old. One consequence of not owning their accounts is that all profits received go directly to the guardians and, unlike traditional child actors in California, these guardians are not required to set aside some of the profits for the children. Advocates like Paul Petersen, believe the legal protections like those in California should apply to children outside of the state. Petersen has said that because YouTube is in San Bruno, California and they are paying to broadcast children, California law must apply to those child stars. Many guardians of kid influencers feel these regulations are unnecessary and that the guardians are doi...

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