The Federal Trade Commission just announced that they’ve reached a settlement with two mobile game companies who have violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Developers LAI Systems and Retro Dreamer are paying a combined $360,000 in civil penalties for allowing advertisers to collect personal-identifying data on kids.
LAI Systems is accused of creating mobile games aimed at kids (My Cake Shop and Marley the Talking Dog, for example) and then allowing third-party advertisers to collect personal info without first obtaining consent or letting advertisers know that the audience was underage.
Retro Dreamer (creator of Happy Poo Jump) did the same, and continued to sell personal information even after one advertiser warned the developer that COPPA was being violated.
It’s good that the FTC is enforcing COPPA. This is the first time, according to the FTC, that the commission has taken companies to court for violating COPPA.
