GigaOM » childrens apps

FTC: Kids app makers aren’t taking privacy seriously

Ryan Kim — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:49:54 +0000

Children’s app developers may need to start reconsidering how they build their apps in light of more pressure from the Federal Trade Commission, which intensified its scrutiny of kids app makers and the privacy policies they employ. The FTC on Monday released its second report on privacy and disclosure practices of children’s mobile apps and found there was little progress by app ecosystem members on how transparent apps and app stores were about their policies.

The report, which examined more than 400 children’s apps in Google Play and the Apple App Store, found:

About 80 percent of apps don’t disclose privacy policies in the app or on a website.
59 percent of apps transmit information from the device to the app developer or more often to a third party such as an ad network or analytics company.
58 percent of apps contain advertising, but only 15 percent disclose that to app users.
22 perent of apps reviewed have social media links with only 9 percent sharing that fact.
And 17 percent allowed in-app purchases within their app.

The app industry has not made significant movement on providing parents with more information about what happens in these apps, said Jessica Rich, associate director of the FTC’s Division of Financial Practices. She said some apps could be in violation of current privacy laws for children. The FTC is now conducting non-public investigations of some apps though Rich declined to say which apps were being reviewed.

She said the danger to children from these apps could come from inappropriate ad targeting of children, sharing a child’s location or opening them up to messaging from outsiders.

“It’s important for kids’ privacy that there be better disclosures and accurate disclosures for parents on what’s happening to kids data,” Rich said.

The FTC is urging the industry to better incorporate privacy protection into the mobile products; offer better information to parents about what’s happening in their apps and choices for data collection and sharing; and offer more transparency about the usage and collection of data.

Rich said the FTC has authority under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) as well as the regular FTC rules against unfair and deceptive practices. While Rich is waiting on app ecosystem members to address its concerns, the biggest motivation might come from new revisions the FTC submitted for COPPA in September. Those changes would strengthen online privacy protections and specifically treat device ID information and geolocation data more strictly.

That means a developer may potentially be investigated for sharing device IDs or location data with third parties. That could also have larger implications for bigger developers who make apps for a general audience but are used by children. Device ID and location data can be key components in helping target ads to mobile users based on their behavior and whereabouts. And analytics are important for understanding how an app is being used and how it can be improved.

Apple has come up with its own system for advertisers who want to track users called Identifier for Advertisers, which replaces the old UDID system. But as my colleague Erica Ogg recently pointed out, many advertisers are not making the switch right away from UDID, which provides a chance for better tracking of individuals.

The app market is still so relatively new and many developers are struggling just to make money. We haven’t seen a lot of nightmare cases stemming from the abuse of children’s mobile app data. But the FTC campaign should remind developers that kids apps require a lot more attention to privacy.

Images courtesy of Flickr users umpcportal.com and Tran Duc Tai

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Kindle Fire’s lack of parental controls raises concerns

Ryan Kim — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:16:31 +0000

Critics have called out the Kindle Fire for some of its hardware and software shortcomings, which is not unexpected for a new device but hasn’t seemed to slow sales. But a bigger concern is emerging for parents who are thinking of buying the Kindle Fire: it has almost no restrictions to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content or buy whatever they like on the device.

Caryn Talty, a blogger with HealthyFamily.org, wrote about how she was able to access R-rated content on Amazon Prime Instant Videos, which is free for a limited time to new Kindle customers. She also noted that with one-click buying, which comes as the default option on the Kindle, users are not prompted to give a password with each purchase.

“I wish Amazon would install parental controls for their devices so that movies which are rated “R” can be blocked on the Kindle Fire as easily as they can on AT&T Uverse. We need to protect our kids from inappropriate materials online, and this includes electronic readers as well. Amazon should give Kindle Fire owners the option to install a 4-digit pin for content not appropriate for kids,” Talty wrote.

It’s not just movies: The Amazon Silk browser also has no controls for access, so parents can’t disable it for children. In fact, all of the magazines, books and comic books can be purchased with one click. There is a screen lock for the device with a password but almost everything is accessible once inside.

Amazon told Reuters earlier this week that it does provide controls for in-app purchases. But it’s still working on adding additional safety features. The company said it hasn’t had a problem with the way it sends devices pre-registered for one-click purchases.

“Customers tell us they love that Kindle Fire arrives registered to their account and ready to go,” Amazon told Reuters. “Those who prefer to have their Kindle Fire arrive unregistered can select ‘gift’ during the checkout.”

Apple has long had controls that allow parents to restrict access to iTunes, the App Store, Safari and YouTube. And it installed new controls on in-app purchases after parents and some legislators complained about the ease with which children were making app purchases and buying items inside apps. Barnes & Noblealso requires users to confirm a purchase on Nook devices.

Some of the problem is that Amazon is still on its first version of the Kindle Fire and it needs to patch up some rough spots on the device. But it also comes down to the central philosophy of the Kindle Fire, which is basically a big store front for Amazon. Amazon expects to sell a lot of goods through the Fire and as we’ve seen already with the iPad, tablets making very good shopping devices. That’s likely why Amazon is able to offer the device at such a low price with no profit, because it can make up for it on other transactions. Amazon’s trademark one-click checkout is part of the appeal for many consumers and it’s made some of my purchases easier on the Fire. But I’ve also caught myself a little worried that it’s actually too easy to buy something on the Fire. That can be bad for parents with children or people with bad impulse control.

I think Amazon needs to come up with more controls quickly. It may not be an issue with most consumers, but at the price the company is pitching it at, the Kindle Fire has a chance to be the first tablet in a lot of homes. Consumers want to feel safe handing their children a Kindle just as much as an iPod Touch. But it needs to come with more safeguards. I’m sure Amazon is working on this, but it would have been better to ship with those controls in place to show that it cares not just about selling but also respecting the different needs of its users.

Amazon is still going to sell a boatload of content legitimately on the Fire, but it doesn’t need to invite an uproar when parents find their children doing far more with their new tablet than they’d like.

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Sprint makes kids’ smartphones safer, for a price

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:08:50 +0000

As children get smartphones at an earlier age, the floodgates are opening up with dangers ranging from inappropriate content to texts from strangers. On Monday, Sprint announced a new subscription service, Sprint Mobile Control, to help parents manage their kids’ smartphones. The add-on service is free during a 30-day trial on Sprint’s Android phones and costs $4.99 per month after that. Sprint says it will offer the software on BlackBerry devices in the future.

Sprint Mobile Control is part of the Safely product suite offered via Location Labs, the same company that’s behind Sprint’s Family Locator service. Sprint customers that opt for Mobile Control can manage and limit their children’s Android phones in these ways among others:

Monitor voice and text usage in a dashboard.
Set usage limits by time and day of week.
Build a trusted contact list for incoming texts or calls from a specified group of phone numbers.
See what apps are being downloaded to the handset.
Set three apps for use when the device is locked.

Sprint notes in its news release that more than 75 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 17 have a smartphone, and as a parent I can see the need for such a tool on a phone. Or on an iPod touch, for that matter, which I’d expect more younger kids to have over iPhones and their monthly contracts. I don’t see any news out of Location Labs indicating an iOS solution, however.

With the growth of smartphone ownership at younger ages, there seems to be much activity in this space. MobiFlock, a similar service in beta, presented its solution at our Mobile event in September and it was impressive. I anticipate more solutions like this to emerge, especially as more of our activities migrate to connected devices and kids grow up never knowing what life without mobile broadband was like.

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‘App gap’ emerges highlighting savvy mobile children

Ryan Kim — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:00:35 +0000

You’ve heard of the digital divide, but how about the app gap? That’s the new term coined by Common Sense Media, which conducted a study looking at the amount of time children under the age of 8 are spending in front of screens.

The study found that there is a growing rift between children from wealthier families who spend more time involved in mobile apps and lower-income children who are more involved in traditional TV watching. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group based in San Francisco, surveyed almost 1,400 parents and found that 47 percent of families with incomes more than $75,000 had downloaded apps for their children, while only 14 percent of families earning less than $30,000 had done so.

The study also found the following:

52 percent of all 0- to 8-year-olds have access to a new mobile device such as a smartphone, video iPod, or iPad/tablet.
38 percent of children this age have used one of these devices, including 10 percent of 0-to 1-year-olds, 39 percent of 2- to 4-year-olds, and more than half (52 percent) of 5- to 8-year-olds.
In a typical day, 11 percent 0- to 8-year-olds uses a smartphone, video iPod, iPad, or similar device to play games, watch videos, or use other apps. Those who use mobile devices spend an average of 43 minutes a day doing so.

TV is still the most popular choice for occupying the time of children. Common Sense found that children 0-8 years old spend an average of 1:40 watching television or DVDs in a typical day. Infants and toddlers (0- to 1-year-olds) spend 53 minutes per day watching television and DVDs, twice the amount of time spent reading or being read to (23 minutes).

The app gap would seem to be extension of the digital divide as lower-income families take longer to embrace certain technologies because of cost considerations. There has always been a gap between wealthier children and poorer kids, when you look at what toys and educational resources they have access to. But it’s interesting to see how mobile devices have become so quickly deployed by parents as both educational and time-killing tools for their kids. Some of this might just be an extension of TV time, with kids just swapping one screen for another. But as more apps proliferate that are designed to educate and engage younger children, it can help make them more digitally savvy at a younger age.

That can have bad consequences, and indeed, the American Academy of Pediatricians has long recommended that children under the age of two shouldn’t spend any of time in front of screens. But with more child-friendly software, these mobile devices might be a tool to help children get ahead, creating more of a divide between the haves and the have-nots.

The gap should close over time with the decline in prices for mobile gadgets. Devices like a $199 Kindle Fire can help open the tablet market to more parents. But the price of software may still be a barrier if children’s apps sell for a premium. We’ll see, but it’s an interesting area to watch. We’re in an app crazy era now, and it’s extending to our youngest children. This is how many of them are learning about computers and software, and the impact on child development and education will be something to keep track of.

The digital divide, though closing, still exists and it can leave entire populations behind. The app gap could be having the same effect on children, as well.

Image courtesy of Flickr user umpcportal.com

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