Hundreds of Android Apps Suspected of Violating Children’s Privacy Protection Regulations

The study also found that parents who have monitored and ensured that their apps are safe for children can still download apps that have the potential to violate COPPA privacy rules. This is because the app got the ‘teacher approved’ badge on the Play Store.

Compareitech said in the report that the 274 apps reviewed and received the ‘teacher approved’ badge turned out to be 50 of them in violation of COPPA regulations. “This means that both the app and their privacy policy have successfully passed quality control, despite violating COPPA standards,” the report said.

In addition, the researchers found that nine percent of the apps did not collect data independently, but likely collaborated with third-party advertising and analytics companies. Then there are also five percent of the applications reviewed that are not targeted at children, but still use the term children or toddlers in their names.

Comparitech also shares information to find out whether an Android application complies with COPPA regulations. The important thing to know is to make sure an app has a clear and detailed online privacy policy regarding the collection of personal information of children under 13.

According to COPPA rules, this personal information includes first and last names, addresses, online contact information, phone numbers, photos, audio or video files that include children’s pictures or voices, and other information.

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