Kids’ Mobile Apps Still Collect User Information
CDT’s Deputy Director of Consumer Privacy, Michelle De Mooy, was interviewed by AP reporter Anne Flaherty regarding kids’ privacy and mobile applications.
More than a year after federal regulators issued new privacy rules for kids’ mobile apps, online stores are flooded with cute and silly software programs that quietly collect vast amounts of data on the youngest consumers, including a person’s location and even recordings of their voice, according to privacy researchers and consumer advocates.
Whether they pass that information on to retailers or seek parental consent first – as required by law – isn’t entirely clear. But if you don’t want your family tracked online by fast food chains, toy stores, or other retailers, your choices are limited: Stick the phone in “airplane mode” to shut off the wireless connection and risk losing functionality, or wade through a developer’s privacy policy to make sure you’re OK with how it works.
Read full story here.
