Under new rules, mobile apps and websites must get parents' consent before collecting personal information from children younger than 13, reports The Los Angeles Times. The new rules — the first major update to federal laws on children's online privacy in 14 years — require a parent's consent to collect those kinds of personal details that can be used to identify, locate or contact a child and pass that information on to third parties.
Samantha Lurey, CEO of Go Trexx in Mission Viejo, which makes travel apps for kids, applauded the effort to increase privacy protections for children.
"This is something our firm has wanted to see for a while now. We feel that federal regulators are going in the right direction," Lurey said. "Because our apps are designed for kids, we felt it was really important that we were not capturing any sensitive information. I think other developers will find that it's relatively easy to construct apps that are engaging, entertaining and useful without capturing sensitive information."