Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Complaint filed against messaging app operator for COPPA Violations, (Sep 30, 2025)

By Tony Foley

The FTC alleged the operator knew many of its users were under 13 and manipulated them into subscriptions.

A complaint filed yesterday by the Justice Department on referral from the FTC alleges that the operator of an anonymous messaging app unlawfully collected personal data of children in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and its implementing rules, among other deceptive practices. In a press release announcing the filing, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the FTC said the operator of the Sendit messaging app, Iconic Hearts Holdings, Inc., and its CEO, Hunter Rice, violated the COPPA Rule, which requires operators of websites, apps and other online services that have knowledge that they are collecting personal information from children under age 13 to notify parents about what personal information the sites or apps collect and to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting such information.

The complaint alleges that Iconic Hearts knew that numerous Sendit users were under age 13 but failed to comply with the COPPA Rule. In 2022, more than 116,000 users reported their age as under 13 while using Sendit, and Iconic Hearts also received numerous complaints from parents who indicated that their children were under age 13. The complaint maintains that Iconic Hearts failed to notify parents that it collected personal information from children, including their phone numbers, birth dates photos, and usernames for Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and other accounts. In addition, Iconic Hearts did not obtain verifiable parental consent to collect this data.

The FTC also contended that Iconic Hearts and Rice deceived Sendit’s users, many of whom were children and teens, into purchasing its premium “Diamond Membership” through methods like misrepresenting that Sendit messages came from users’ friends and social media contacts when many were fake and generated by Iconic Hearts, as well as sending fake messages of a provocative or sexual nature and encouraging the recipient to buy the enhanced membership to learn the identity of the sender, among other tactics. The complaint maintained that these actions violated the FTC Act, as well as the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA).

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