Kids App Developer Settles for $150,000 Over FTC Privacy AllegationsÂ
HyperBeard, a kids app developer, agreed to pay $150,000 and to “delete personal information it illegally collected from children under 13,” the FTC said in a 4-1 settlement Thursday. The company allegedly violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act rule…
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by “allowing third-party ad networks to collect personal information in the form of persistent identifiers to track users of the company’s child-directed apps, without notifying parents or obtaining verifiable parental consent,” per a complaint filed by DOJ. It names HyperBeard CEO Alexander Kozachenko and Managing Director Antonio Uribe. Commissioner Noah Phillips dissented, saying, “Given the violations at issue, the harm to consumers, and how we have approached other COPPA cases, my view is that the fine imposed today is too much.” He questioned whether the $4 million penalty, which led to the settlement, was appropriate given the alleged harm, noting a $5.7 million penalty against Musical.ly (see 1902270059). Chairman Joe Simons disagreed, saying, “The goal of the civil penalty should be to make compliance more attractive than violation.” HyperBeard disagreed any of its games were directed at children under 13, but it settled to avoid “costly and distracting litigation,” the firm said, noting its limited resources as a “small company.” The “legacy apps” mentioned in the FTC complaint “have long been transitioned to COPPA-compliant advertising networks (which do not collect or use advertising IDs),” it said.