In his State of the Union address on February 7, 2023, President Biden affirmed his position on consumer data privacy protections and specifically his focus on strengthening protections for children. With several state data...more
CSPI to FDA: Move to the Front! Watchdog barks at industry efforts to highlight nutrition facts - Gesundheit FOPNL. It’s sweeping the globe. What is it, you ask? A new government agency? An awful skin condition? A...more
There is a federal law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), that requires app developers to obtain parental consent before collecting information from children under the age of 13. The law has been on the...more
While smart toys can certainly be useful educational tools for children, they also present some potential privacy risks and could invade what is traditionally a private space. Think about it—the thought of your child’s toy...more
On 12 March 2021, the "Code for Children's Rights" ("Code voor Kinderrechten") was launched in the Netherlands. The Code was developed by the University of Leiden and the Waag organisation commissioned by the Dutch...more
Last week, two Senators, Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding apps designed for children and whether they are in...more
In August 2017, Disney and three of its software developer vendors were sued in a class action in California in which it was alleged that Disney collected children’s information in violation of the Children's Online Privacy...more
2.7 Million Dollar HIPAA Settlement – Last week, Oregon Health & Science University (“OHSU”) agreed to pay $2.7 million to resolve potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996...more
Sen. Franken Hits Pause on Pokémon GO - After the Pokémon GO app was downloaded approximately 7.5 million times in the United States alone in its first week of release, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), the chairman of the...more
The COPPA Rule requires website and online service operators to give notice to parents and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting children’s “personal information” online. 16 CFR §§ 312.4, 312.5. The...more
VTech, an electronic toy maker, disclosed on November 30, 2015 that it experienced a cyber-attack on its Learning Lodge app store portal on November 14, 2015, that accessed and stole the personal information of 5 million...more
FTC Sues Amazon Over In-App Purchases Made by Children - Children, according to Whitney Houston, are our future, but they are also, according to the Federal Trade Commission, willing to spend unlimited amounts of money...more
Just two months after Apple’s settlement with the FTC over lax parental controls over children’s in-app purchases, Google takes the spotlight with claims of unauthorized children’s in-app purchases in the Google Play Store!...more
Apple Agrees to Pay Consumers At Least $32.5 Million to Settle Complaint of Unfair Billing Related to Children’s In-App Charges - FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez just announced (press conference) that Apple, Inc....more
On April 12, 2013, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the UK regulator for consumer affairs and competition, announced that it was launching an investigation into children’s web- and app-based games. In particular, the...more