Apple's App Store has broken up with three dating apps the Federal Trade Commission alleged allowed kids as young as 12 to access them and likely violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The act prevents the collection of personal info from children younger than 13 without adhering to clear privacy policies. Wildec's policy said it prohibited users under 13. The FTC said that Wildec appeared to know about the underage users but did not block them per its stated policy, and so was subject to COPPA.
Related: Sen. Markey Looks to Update COPPA
"[A]llowing adult users to communicate with children poses a serious health and safety risk," the FTC also pointed out.
Ukraine-based Wildec LLC's Meet24, FastMeet and Meet4U apps have been removed, at least until and unless they addressed those alleged violations, according to the FTC, which had warned Wildec of its findings in a letter last week.
The FTC has been under pressure from Capitol Hill to crack down on edge provider privacy and its chairman, Joe Simons, has said it is and will continue to be a cop on the privacy beat.
