Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: FTC Staff Report Finds Mobile App Developers Have Done Little to Resolve Concerns About Children’s Privacy, (Dec 10, 2012)

An FTC staff report has concluded that mobile app developers’ privacy disclosures and practices do not provide sufficient information to parents regarding the applications their children use. The report, an update to a February 2012 report addressing the same issues, surveyed an array of popular mobile apps for children offered in the Google Play and Apple App stores and found the developers did not provide sufficient information concerning what data the apps collect, how the information is shared, and who has access to that information.

“While we think most companies have the best intentions when it comes protecting kids’ privacy, we haven’t seen any progress when it comes to making sure parents have the information they need to make informed choices about apps for their kids. In fact, our study shows that kids' apps siphon an alarming amount of information from mobile devices without disclosing this fact to parents,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “All of the companies in the mobile app space, especially the gatekeepers of the app stores, need to do a better job. We'll do another survey in the future and we will expect to see improvement.”

The report found that “most apps failed to provide any information about the data collected through the app, let alone the type of data collected, the purpose of the collection, and who would obtain access to the data.” Moreover, many apps shared information, such as device IDs, geolocation information, and telephone numbers, to third parties without disclosing that fact to parents. Many apps also included interactive features, such as advertising, the ability to make in-app purchases, and links to social media, also without disclosing their presence to parents.

The report urges mobile app developers to implement recommendations found in the February 2012 report, including:

• “Incorporating privacy protections into the design of mobile products and services;”

• “Offering parents easy-to-understand choices about the data collection and sharing through kids’ apps;” and

• “Providing greater transparency about how data is collected, used, and shared through kids’ apps.”

The FTC has responded to its findings by developing consumer education programs for parents regarding the privacy concerns of mobile apps, and has announced non-public investigations to determine whether some developers have violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act or the FTC Act.

News: Privacy ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews