Majority Of Android Kids Apps Are Illegally Collecting Children’s Information

The US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa) was put in place in order to make sure that children browsing online are not treated with the same careless datamining outlook as those applied to adults. Unfortunately, it seems more than half of the apps directed at younger users are simply ignoring this particular law, which is actually criminal behavior.

This particular development is courtesy of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley’s International Computer Science Institute, The Guardian reports. Publishing a study titled Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, they note how thousands of apps aimed at children are not only collecting the data of the young users but are illegally doing so.

For context, it’s not a surprise that apps are actually ignoring Coppa in order gather information from kids to use for profit later on. Many of these apps were created and uploaded from other countries, where the laws regarding such things are less restrictive.

What’s surprising about this particular report is just how many of these apps are blatantly violating the law. At about 57 percent of the 5,855 apps examined, this is not a small number that can be swept under the rug. The fact that these apps are also part of the Designed for Families program by Google reflects very badly for the company, as well.

Of course, it’s worth noting that many of these apps might not be intentionally gathering the data of children and intentionally flouting the law. Instead, it could simply be a case of misunderstandings, as the study points out.

This is also far from being the only case to have been a violation of Coppa, The Verge reports. As recently as last month, YouTube was hit with such an accusation and even companies selling children’s toys have been found to be doing the same thing with their smart products.