Nickelodeon has temporarily removed its SpongeBob Diner Dash game from Apple’s iTunes app store after a complaint was filed against it with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), CNET News reports. The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) has filed a complaint alleging Nickelodeon and game-maker PlayFirst are inaccurately marketing the game and violating COPPA. The app collects users’ e-mail addresses without providing “notice to parents” or obtaining “prior parental consent, as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act,” according to the complaint. The CDD filed a similar complaint against mobile app “Mobbles” last week. Its developer pulled it offline in response. The FTC recently released a report expressing discontent with mobile apps’ treatment of children’s privacy.
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