Groups File Complaint With FTC Over Kids Messenger App

A complaint spearheaded by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) and drawn up by the Communications & Technology Law Clinic at the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center has been filed with the Federal Trade Commission against Facebook, over Facebook's collection of children's personal information without obtaining the requisite parental permission. The complaint is leveled against the Messenger Kids app, a social media platform for children as young as five. The app does have a parental consent mechanism, but the groups say it does not meet the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) because it is not "reasonably Calculated" to make sure the permission-giving is actually the parent. They say they tested the app and any "fictional" parent can set up the app and immediately approve a child's account without proof of identity. They also say the the privacy policy is "incomplete and vague."