In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, children are spending more of their lives in the digital realm, both for education and entertainment purposes—but that doesn’t mean the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cutting online operators slack for not complying with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Last week, the FTC levied a $4 million penalty against HyperBeard, Inc., a popular mobile app developer, to settle allegations that HyperBeard integrated third-party ad networks into its child-directed apps in violation of COPPA.(Due to HyperBeard’s inability to pay the full amount, the $4 million penalty will be suspended upon payment of $150,000 by HyperBeard).
The complaint is notable in that the FTC did not allege that HyperBeard itself collected any personal information from children—rather, the alleged violations centered around the company enabling third parties to collect personal information from children through its service. The fine serves as a warning to online operators that they are strictly responsible for their third-party integrations, even if they themselves do not collect personal information from children. Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, emphasized, “If your app or website is directed to kids, you’ve got to make sure parents are in the loop before you collect children’s personal information. This includes allowing someone else, such as an ad network, to collect persistent identifiers, like advertising IDs or cookies, in order to serve behavioral advertising.”
Continue Reading It’s 10 p.m. Do You Know What Your Third-Party Integrations Are Doing?