The TickTalk 4 smart watch/phone and app are in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), according to the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of BBB National Programs. The company said it would take corrective measures.

CARU is a self-regulatory body, but if the Federal Trade Commission also concludes the company violated COPPA, it could take legal action.

Also: Sen. Ed Markey: President Biden To Promote Ban of Child-Targeted Ads

CARU said that Tick Talk Tech, which produces the watch, violated CARU's online privacy protection guidelines. Companies who stay within the guidelines are considered to be in compliance with COPPA because those guidelines are an FTC-approved safe harbor program.

But according to CARU, Tick Talk Tech's privacy policy did not provide "clear and complete, and non-confusing" on the information the device collects from children, did not display the information prominently, and did not provide "a means for verifiable parental consent" to the collection.

In addition, there was no direct notice of information collection that COPPA requires.

Also: CARU Concludes Discord is in Accord with COPPA

And if that were not enough, CARU said the company's "privacy policy, terms of service, and other online statements included inconsistent, confusing and/or contradictory statements about its collection, use, or disclosure of children’s personal information."

CARU said the company must revise the web site and app to provide clear, complete, and conspicuous information on information collection and an "unavoidable means" to obtain parental consent.

Tick Talk provided a compliance plan. ■

AT&T said it has added 41 more live channels to its authenticated U-verse App, while also extending support to the Samsung Gear S smartwatch.

The telco, which ended 2014 with nearly 6 million U-verse TV subs, said the latest additions expand the TV Everywhere app’s offering to 236 live channels that are accessible in the home, and 173 that are accessible out-of-home.

U-verse subs who pair the app with the 4G-connected Samsung Gear S can use it to change TV channels, access the U-verse TV guide, search for shows, manage their DVR and receive programming notifications.

New channels available to watch via the U-verse App both inside the home and on the go are:

-Al Jazeera America

-BET

-BET Gospel

-Boomerang

-Cartoon Network

-CMT

-CMT Pure Country

-Centric

-Comedy Central

-CSPAN

-CSPAN2

-CSPAN3

-Fox Sports 1

-Fox Sports 2

-Galavision

-EVINE (ShopHQ)

-HRTV

-LOGO

-MTV

-MTV 2

-MTV Hits

-MTV Jams

-mtvU

-MTV Tr3s

-Nickelodeon

-Nick2

-Nicktoons

-Nick Jr

-NUVOtv (rebranding as  Fuse in Q4)

-Palladia

-PXTV

-RFD TV

-Spike TV

-TeenNick

-TV Land

-Univision

-UniMás

-VH1

-VH1 Classic

-VH1 Soul

-World Fishing Network