“The U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced on Wednesday changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that aim to protect personal information about children, with liability extending to mobile applications, but not entire platforms like Apple’s iOS App Store,” AppleInsider reports.
“The adopted amendments to COPPA are designed to strengthen privacy protections for minors and will also give parents greater control over personal information that websites and online services can collect from children under 13,” AppleInsider reports. “The list of personal information that cannot be collected from children under 13 now includes geolocation information, photos and videos. Companies have also been offered a streamlined, voluntary and transparent approval process for new ways of getting parental consent.”
AppleInsider reports, “The updated law also notes that Apple’s App Store and Google Play for Android are not defined as ‘operators,’ meaning the new rules do not require Apple or Google to police their own storefronts for potential violations. The FTC said the App Store and Google play are exempt because they ‘merely offer the public access to child-directed apps.'”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
FTC: Apple and Google not doing enough to protect privacy in kids apps – December 11, 2012
Finally some intelligent way of dealing with an issue other then going after the store owner that distributes the goods.
Now if we can get more of this type of thinking and dealing with issues throughout the mobile marketplace.