TECHNOLOGY Users beware: Apps are using a loophole in privacy law to track kids' phones
June 16, 202212:38 PM ET
Washington Post technology columnist Geoffrey Fowler says smartphones and apps are harvesting our personal data — and that of our kids — on a scale that would shock most users. By the time a child is 13, he writes, online advertising firms have collected an average of 72 million data points about that individual.
"Companies out there that you would never know the name of, that really have no relationship with the app that you were trying to use, could be, first of all, tracking your kid's interests, then trying to predict what they might want to buy, or sell their information on to others," Fowler says.
Fowler started out as a technology reviewer, looking at new gadgets and evaluating if they were worth their price. But, he says, as technology has become more mainstream, he began to see his role as reviewer differently: "It's no longer a question of, 'Is it too hard to use?' The question now has become, 'Is it evil?' 'Is it taking away our rights and our choices?' "
Fowler's ongoing series for the Post, "We the Users," attempts to answer these questions — and to raise awareness of how pervasive the issues are. He says the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act stipulates that a company has to have actual knowledge that a child is using the app or website in order for certain privacy protections to kick in. But many companies get around the law, simply by claiming that they don't know who their users are. Fowler advocates for closing this loophole, and for creating new laws that allow companies to collect only the data they need — and nothing more.
"I think that's what most consumers already assume is happening: that if you ask a website to show you a map, it's collecting your location just for that moment to give you directions," Fowler says. "The problem is that that's not what's happening. These companies are taking it as an opportunity to then collect your data all the time and do what they want to with it."
Fowler says while each individual case of data collection might seem insignificant in the moment, the larger picture is anything but: "Once it's collected, it's out of your control, it could be used in all kinds of ways that we can't even imagine yet."
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/16/1105212701/use...ids-phones
June 16, 202212:38 PM ET
Washington Post technology columnist Geoffrey Fowler says smartphones and apps are harvesting our personal data — and that of our kids — on a scale that would shock most users. By the time a child is 13, he writes, online advertising firms have collected an average of 72 million data points about that individual.
"Companies out there that you would never know the name of, that really have no relationship with the app that you were trying to use, could be, first of all, tracking your kid's interests, then trying to predict what they might want to buy, or sell their information on to others," Fowler says.
Fowler started out as a technology reviewer, looking at new gadgets and evaluating if they were worth their price. But, he says, as technology has become more mainstream, he began to see his role as reviewer differently: "It's no longer a question of, 'Is it too hard to use?' The question now has become, 'Is it evil?' 'Is it taking away our rights and our choices?' "
Fowler's ongoing series for the Post, "We the Users," attempts to answer these questions — and to raise awareness of how pervasive the issues are. He says the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act stipulates that a company has to have actual knowledge that a child is using the app or website in order for certain privacy protections to kick in. But many companies get around the law, simply by claiming that they don't know who their users are. Fowler advocates for closing this loophole, and for creating new laws that allow companies to collect only the data they need — and nothing more.
"I think that's what most consumers already assume is happening: that if you ask a website to show you a map, it's collecting your location just for that moment to give you directions," Fowler says. "The problem is that that's not what's happening. These companies are taking it as an opportunity to then collect your data all the time and do what they want to with it."
Fowler says while each individual case of data collection might seem insignificant in the moment, the larger picture is anything but: "Once it's collected, it's out of your control, it could be used in all kinds of ways that we can't even imagine yet."
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/16/1105212701/use...ids-phones
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