Thousands of popular Android apps may be illegally tracking children's locations and collecting personal data, researchers warn
- A new study has found that hundreds of popular children's Android apps are collecting personal data like their GPS location and sharing it with advertisers
- Researchers warn that it may put the developers in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which limits data collection on kids under 13
- Many of the apps were downloaded 750,000 times from the Google Play Store
Thousands of popular Android apps targeted to children may be illegally scraping their personal information.
A study conducted on 5,885 apps meant for children in the Google Play Store found that more than half of the apps were improperly collecting data on kids.
This potentially puts them in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which limits data collection for kids under the age of 13.
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A study conducted on 5,885 apps meant for children in Android's Google Play Store found that more than half of the apps were improperly collecting data on kids
Researchers from the International Computer Science Institute at the University of California, Berkeley downloaded apps on a smartphone between November 2016 and March 2018.
They then used an automated testing process where they ran the apps as a simulated user.
'Each of the apps studied was installed, on average, more than 750,000 times, which means they may be potentially in use by millions of devices on a global scale,' said the IMDEA Networks Institute, which also participated in the study, in a statement.
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Of the 5,885 apps included in the study, 281 of them collected the phone's contact or GPS location data, while 184 of them sent the device's location to advertisers.
Over 1,000 of the apps also collected personal information and shared it with third parties.
Further, thousands of them appeared to violate Google's terms of service meant to prohibit those kinds of trackers in kid's apps.
Among the apps analyzed were games like Duolingo, Minion Rush, and Fun Kid Racing (pictured). Hundreds of them were found to collect the phone's contact and GPS data
Of the 5,885 apps included in the study, 281 of them collected the phone's contact or GPS location data, while 184 of them sent the device's location to advertisers. File photo
The study also found that many apps aimed at children were transferring their data in a non-secure way.
Among the apps analyzed were games like Duolingo, Minion Rush, and Fun Kid Racing.
Tiny Lab Productions, which produces Fun Kid Racing, said it requires users to enter their age when they open the app and that if the user is under 13, they don't collect data.
Upon viewing the research, Google has said it's taking the report 'very seriously' and investigating its findings.
'Protecting kids and families is a top priority and our Designed for Families Program requires developers to abide by specific requirements above and beyond our standard Google Play policies,' the firm told NBC News.
'If we determine that an app violates our policies, we will take action'
'We always appreciate the research community's work to help make the Android ecosytem safer,' Google added.
However, it's very easy for users to enter a different age and skim the user agreement which explains all the data collected on them.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, has come under fire recently as nearly two-dozen campaign groups say it's in violation of the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
WHAT'S THE CONTROVERSY OVER YOUTUBE'S CONTENT?
YouTube has been subject to various controversies since its creation in 2005.
It has become one of Google's fastest-growing operations in terms of sales by simplifying the process of distributing video online but putting in place few limits on content.
However, parents, regulators, advertisers and law enforcement have become increasingly concerned about the open nature of the service.
They have contended that Google must do more to banish and restrict access to inappropriate videos, whether it be propaganda from religious extremists and Russia or comedy skits that appear to show children being forcibly drowned.
Child exploitation and inappropriate content
By the end of last year YouTube said it had removed more than 50 user channels and has stopped running ads on more than 3.5 million videos since June.
In March last year, a disturbing Peppa Pig fake, found by journalist Laura June, shows a dentist with a huge syringe pulling out the character's teeth as she screams in distress.
Mrs June only realised the violent nature of the video as her three-year-old daughter watched it beside her.
Hundreds of these disturbing videos were found on YouTube by BBC Trending back in March.
By the end of last year YouTube said it had removed more than 50 user channels and has stopped running ads on more than 3.5 million videos since June. One of the deleted videos was the wildly popular Toy Freaks YouTube channel featuring a single dad and his two daughters
All of these videos are easily accessed by children through YouTube's search results or recommended videos.
YouTube has been getting more stringent about deleting videos. One example is the wildly popular Toy Freaks YouTube channel featuring a single dad and his two daughters that was deleted last year.
Although it's unclear what exact policy the channel violated, the videos showed the girls in unusual situations that often involved gross-out food play and simulated vomiting.
The channel invented the 'bad baby' genre, and some videos showed the girls pretending to urinate on each other or fishing pacifiers out of the toilet.
Adverts being shown next to inappropriate videos
There has been widespread criticism that adverts are being shown on some clips depicting child exploitation.
YouTube has now tightened its rules on who qualifies for posting money-making ads.
Previously, channels with 10,000 total views qualified for the YouTube Partner Program which allows creators to collect some income from the adverts placed before their videos.
But YouTube's parent company Google has announced that from February 20, channels will need 1,000 subscribers and to have racked up 4,000 hours of watch time over the last 12 months regardless of total views, to qualify.
This is the biggest change to advertising rules on the site since its inception - and is another attempt to prevent the platform being 'co-opted by bad actors' after persistent complaints from advertisers over the past twelve months.
In November last year Lidl, Mars, Adidas, Cadbury maker Mondelez, Diageo and other big companies all pulled advertising from YouTube.
An investigation found the video sharing site was showing clips of scantily clad children alongside the ads of major brands.
One video of a pre-teenage girl in a nightie drew 6.5 million views.
Issues with system for flagging inappropriate videos
Another investigation in November found YouTube's system for reporting sexual comments had serious faults.
As a result, volunteer moderators have revealed there could be as many as 100,000 predatory accounts leaving inappropriate comments on videos.
Users use an online form to report accounts they find inappropriate.
Part of this process involves sending links to the specific videos or comments they are referring to.
Investigators identified 28 comments that obviously violated YouTube's guidelines.
According to the BBC, some include the phone numbers of adults, or requests for videos to satisfy sexual fetishes.
The children in the videos appeared to be younger than 13, the minimum age for registering an account on YouTube.
It can also be very difficult for parents to identify these security risks on their own.
'While accessing a sensitive resource or sharing it over the internet does not necessarily mean that an app is in violation of COPPA, none of these apps attained veriable parental consent: if the [automated testing we performed] was able to trigger the functionality, then a child would as well,' the researchers wrote.
The issue has highlighted how challenging it can be to enforce rules set out in regulations like COPPA.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, has come under fire recently as nearly two-dozen campaign groups say it's in violation of the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act because it's collecting personal data to target advertising to those aged under 13.
YouTube could be fined billions of dollars if the complaint is upheld.
The coalition accuses YouTube of violating COPPA and deliberately profiting off luring children into what Chester calls an 'ad-filled digital playground' where commercials for toys, theme parks or sneakers can surface alongside kid-oriented videos.
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