Media Coverage
Source: Daily Journal
Media Coverage
10.06.14
Federal Trade Commission penalties handed down to two San Francisco-based technology companies last month underscore the commission’s focus on websites and app developers that collect information from children in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. TinyCo will pay $300,000 in a civil penalty for a site design that the FTC found catered to children but didn’t obtain parental consent before collecting their information. Review site Yelp will pay a $450,000 settlement for failing to deny access to users under the age of 13 on its mobile app.
Senior counsel Catherine Meyer told the Daily Journal that the decisions will help other companies understand their limitations under the act, as apps will likely continue to fall under the same privacy rules that apply to websites. Because the FTC cited TinyCo’s cartoon characters and other site elements that may appeal to children, the decision helps clarify the standard for determining whether a site caters to kids.
“If you have a jigsaw puzzle that’s 10 pieces, it’s going to be attractive to a child,” Meyer said. “Even if it’s a picture of a cartoon character or a teen star, if it’s a thousand pieces, the complexity of it is going to make it less attractive to a child.”
Meyer also says websites and apps that target a teen audience must be careful in identifying their users’ demographics; if the FTC determines most of an app’s users are younger than 13, the site could be labeled as “directed at children.”