HYPERBEARD AGREES TO $150,000 SETTLEMENT WITH FTC

09.06.2020

App developer HyperBeard which is popular among children and offers many of apps directed to children, has agreed to pay $150,000, and delete personal information it collected illegally for targeted advertising.

In the present case, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) alleged that HyperBeard violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule 1999 (“COPPA Rule”) 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. In addition, the FTC alleged that the ad networks used the identifiers to target ads to children using HyperBeard's apps.

In the United States, the main privacy law governing the online collection, use, or disclosure of children’s personal information is COPPA Rule which requires that commercial Websites, online services, and mobile apps directed to children under age 13, or with actual knowledge that a user is under 13, must obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children. Accordingly, HyperBeard failed to meet such requirements.

In this sense, HyperBeard has agreed to pay $ 150.000 to make settlement with the FTC and to delete all personal information obtained through the apps. It is stated that the original proposed penalty was $4 million, but the FTC said the amount will be suspended upon payment of $150,000 by HyperBeard due to its inability to pay the full amount.

Moreover, the settlement requires HyperBeard to notify and obtain verifiable consent from parents for any child-directed app or website they offer that collects personal information from children under 13.

You can read the text of the FTC’s announcement here.

 Should you have any queries and/or remarks, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Kind regards,

Zumbul Attorneys-at-Law

info@zumbul.av.tr