Yelp will pay $450,000 and TinyCo., will pay a $300,000 in civil penalties as part of the settlement announced this week.
“I think we will see more of this type of issue. Mobile phones and devices are more personal now and it doesn’t make it easy to monitor. ,” said Eric Geier, owner of On Spot Techs, a computer and IT service company with offices in Fairborn, New Carlisle, and Kettering.
Yelp was collecting birth dates, names email addresses and location of children, as well as any information they posted on the app, according to an FTC release.
“It’s a concern for parents because a child’s whereabouts could have been made publicly available on the app for anyone to see,” said FTC attorney on the Yelp case, Melinda Claybaugh.
Several thousand app users identified themselves as younger than the age of 13, and the app should have locked them out, much like Yelp’s website does, but it didn’t work, Claybaugh said.
TinyCo. apps Tiny Pets, Tiny Zoo, Tiny Village, Tiny Monsters, and Mermaid Resort, had an optional feature which collected email addresses, said FTC attorney on the TinyCo. case Amanda Koulousias.
“iPhones allow parents to restrict app by ratings and also require a password before allowing downloads, and parents can download apps for Android devices that serve the same purpose, and parents need to use them,” Geier said.
Android downloads with similar features include Kids Place, Net Nanny, and Famingo.
“Children should know to never give out their name and location. Kids should also know to never install an app without their parent’s permission,” said Geier.
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