FTC says Apple isn't responsible for child privacy in apps
App makers and not Apple itself must ensure that their software gets parental permission before sharing private information of minors, the Federal Trade Commission has decided. The final wording of the FTC's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act says that Apple won't have to actively police the App Store for apps that violate these rules, but will have to act if it learns that a developer is violating them.
The decision comes a little more than a week after the FTC released a report in which it looked at 400 apps to gauge their privacy risks as they relate to children. The commission found that a majority of the apps didn't offer adequate information to parents about how their children's information is going to be used or shared.
Apple and Google both reportedly lobbied the FTC to be excluded from keeping a watchful eye on their digital storefronts for apps that break the new rules.
[Via GigaOM]
