NEWARK
– Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa
and the New Jersey Division of Consumer
Affairs have filed suit in federal court
against a mobile app developer whose educational
games allegedly collect personal information
from children, then transmit the information
to a third-party company without notifying
parents or obtaining their consent.
The lawsuit is the first
filed as a result of the Division’s
ongoing initiative against Internet privacy
violations and acts of cyber-fraud. It is
also the first lawsuit filed by the Division
pursuant to the federal Children’s
Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
“Mobile devices can
capture and transmit a wealth of personal
information about users, including their
identities and even their geographic location.
When we find that companies are using this
ability to transmit information about children
without their parents’ knowledge or
consent, we will take immediate action,”
Attorney General Chiesa said. “Due
to the broad capabilities of these devices
and the potential for abuse, we are proactively
investigating mobile apps to ensure their
compliance with privacy and consumer protection
laws.”
The State filed suit on
June 6, 2012 in U.S. District Court, District
of New Jersey, against Los Angeles-based
24x7digital, LLC, the developer and operator
of the “TeachMe” series of apps
for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The
series includes “TeachMe: Toddler,”
“TeachMe: Kindergarten,” “TeachMe:
1st Grade,” and “TeachMe: 2nd
Grade,” educational games targeted
to children of those age groups.
“We appreciate the
educational component of these apps, but
under no circumstances is it acceptable
to transmit identifying information about
toddlers or first and second graders without
the informed consent of their parents,”
Eric T. Kanefsky, Acting Director of the
New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs,
said.
24x7digital promotes the
“TeachMe” apps as having a “simple
and intuitive” interface that “allows
children to play without help from an adult,”
according to the State’s complaint.
The “TeachMe” apps are among
the top-selling applications in the education
category of Apple’s App Store. As
of June 5, 2012, “TeachMe: Kindergarten”
is currently the 12th most popular education
app; “TeachMe” 1st Grade”
is number 21, “TeachMe: 2nd Grade”
is number 25, and “TeachMe: Toddler”
is number 32, according to Apple’s
App Store website. Apple reported in July
2011 that more than 15 billion apps have
been downloaded by more than 200 million
iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users worldwide.
A significant portion are apps geared toward
children.
Children who use the “TeachMe”
apps are encouraged by 24x7 to provide their
first and last names, and a picture of themselves,
when creating player profiles. Division
of Consumer Affairs investigators found
that the apps allegedly transmitted personal
information – including the first
and last names provided by users, as well
as the unique device identification number
(UDID) that identifies the specific mobile
device a player is using – to a third-party
data analytics company.
The State alleges that,
by collecting personal information from
children and transmitting it to a third
party, without providing notification of
this policy on its website and without obtaining
consent from the young players’ parents,
24x7 is in violation of COPPA.
Attorney General Chiesa
noted that the Division of Consumer Affairs
is continuing its investigation into other
mobile applications and their possible unlawful
sharing of users’ private information.
About
Mobile Apps and Privacy Issues:
COPPA was enacted by Congress
in 1998 in response to concerns that commercial
websites were collecting and disseminating
the personal information of children without
disclosing that activity and obtaining parental
consent; and concerns that a growing number
of companies were using the information
to build profiles about children and their
families, target them for commercial purposes,
and entice children to want to purchase
a range of products.
When COPPA was introduced
in the U.S. Senate in 1998, a total of 3
million children younger than 18 were using
the Internet. Today, according to the United
States Census, approximately 61.7 million
children younger than 18 have Internet access.
The
Federal Trade Commission in February 2012
released its report, “Mobile Apps
for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are
Disappointing,” which found that both
Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android
operating systems for mobile devices offer
powerful capabilities to monitor the behavior
and location of their child users. The FTC
report is available at www.ftc.gov/os/2012/02/120216mobile_apps_kids.pdf
.
Investigators Aziza Salikhov
and Brian Morgenstern, of the Division of
Consumer Affairs’ Cyber Fraud Unit,
led this investigation. Deputy Attorney
General Jah-Juin Ho along with Deputies
Glenn Graham and Joan Karn, are representing
the State in this matter.
Consumers
who believe they have been cheated or scammed
by a business, or suspect any other form
of consumer abuse, can file a complaint
with the State Division of Consumer Affairs
by visiting its website, www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov,
or by calling 1-800-242-5846
(toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200.
Follow
the Division of Consumer Affairs on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/pages/NJ-Division-of-Consumer-Affairs/112957465445651,
and check our online calendar of upcoming
Consumer Outreach events at www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov/outreach/.
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