The maker of children’s mobile app “Mobbles” has temporarily taken the app offline in response to news that the Center for Digital Democracy has filed a complaint against it with the Federal Trade Commission. The complaint alleges Mobbles violates COPPA in failing to post its privacy policy appropriately and in collecting data from children—including addresses, e-mail addresses and geolocation information—without parents’ permission. “This complaint provides a glimpse into a much larger, rapidly growing children’s mobile market in which companies are unleashing all of the available techniques for targeting kids,” said Kathryn Montgomery, a children’s privacy advocate and professor at American University. Meanwhile, NPR reports on the FTC’s recent report on mobile apps and kids.
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