A complaint filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission alleged that the WW International, Inc., formerly known as Weight Watchers and its app, KurboThey collected personal information from children as young as 8 years old without parental permission.
A FTC requires WW International and Kurbo exclude the personal information collected illegally and destroy any algorithms derived from this data, under penalty of paying a fine of US$1,5 million.
According to Lina M. Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission: "Weight Watchers and Kurbo marketed weight management services for use by children as young as eight years old and then illegally collected their personal and confidential health information.", "Our order against these companies requires them to delete their illicit data, destroy any algorithms derived from them, and pay a fine for their violation of the law."
An app created for children was collecting children's data without their consent.
Companies are marketing an application called “Kurbo by WW for use by children up to eight years old, which tracks food intake, physical activity and weight of these children, in addition to collect personal information, such as names, email addresses, and dates of birth.
According to FTC Children's Online Privacy Protection Act RuleIt is mandatory for websites and apps intended for children to notify parents and obtain the consent They [have] before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information of children under the age of 13.
According to what was alleged, the Kurbo encouraged younger children to lie about being 13 years old in order to use the app. since a notification in the app in question indicated that children under 13 could only use the services if... parental consent.
The complaint also stated that parents who enrolled their children on the company's app and website received the notification regarding the collection of informationHowever, to configure this notification, they would need to click on a hyperlink hidden among numerous other links.
To date, despite having made some changes that have not resolved the problem, Kurbo by WW still does not meet the requirements of the COPPA Rule, according to the complaint.
Brian M. Boynton, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, head of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, stated: "Parents have the right to know and consent before companies collect their children's personal information.", "The department is committed to enforcing protections against the unauthorized collection of consumer information, especially from children."
Finally, in addition to the previous accusations, WW and Kurbo are also accused of retaining the collected information indefinitely and only deleting it when requested by a parent.
Under the agreement proposed by the FTC, companies are also prohibited from retaining data collected in the future from children under 13 for more than one year after the date of the child's last access.
The Department of Justice filed the complaint and sent an order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which was approved on March 3.
