Tiny Pets, Tiny Monsters and Mermaid Resort have been violating children’s privacy, the Federal Trade Commission ruled, before handing out a $300,000 in fines to the company that makes the mobile games.
According to the regulator, TinyCo, the games’ developer, was in breach of the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or Coppa. Coppa bans companies from collecting data from people under 13 years old without a parent’s consent.
The FTC found that TinyCo’s games – which have been downloaded more than 34m times – were offering the exchange of virtual currency for details such as a child’s email address. It said the company ignored parents’ complaints and failed to notify parents of the information it collected from children.
Alongside the fine, the company must delete all personal data pertaining to under-13s from its database.
“As people – especially children – move more of their lives onto mobile devices, it’s important that they have the same consumer protections when they’re using an app that they have when they’re on a website,” said Jessica Rich, the director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection.
“Companies should take steps as they build and test their apps to make sure that children’s information won’t be collected without a parent’s consent.”
In a statement, TinyCo said all its games were now Coppa compliant. “TinyCo fully supports Coppa and the FTC’s effort to protect the privacy and data of children online. We apologize to anyone affected by this issue, and want to be unequivocal in stating that TinyCo is fully committed to protecting user privacy, particularly when children are involved,” it said.
The FTC also fined Yelp, the social reviews company, for collecting information on children through its app without first notifying parents and obtaining their consent.
According to the complaint, several thousand registrants provided a date of birth showing they were under 13 years old, and Yelp collected information from them including, for example, their name, email address, and location, as well as any information that they posted on Yelp.
The company was fined $450,000 and must delete information it collected from consumers who stated they were 13 years of age or younger at the time they registered for the service.
TinyCo has been backed by $38m of venture capital since its launch, including an $18m round in 2011 and $20m in 2013. Its backers include venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Pinnacle Ventures.
The appeal of TinyCo’s games to children has been subject to scrutiny before. In 2012, it featured prominently in a Wall Street Journal feature about children and in-app purchases, including noting Tiny Zoo’s in-game encouragement for players to buy virtual coins in quantities worth up to $99.99 at a time.
