Google removes dating apps in which there were minors
Table of contents:
The Android app store, Google Play, is once again having problems with some of the apps it hosts. In this case, he has come face to face with an equation as thorny and problematic as the one made up of dating apps and minors. And it is that, between Tinder, Grindr and other places of love entertainment, there were sites where allowed the entry of users from 12 years old Something that it cannot be accommodated in a secure place like the Play Store.
Minors in dating apps from the Play Store
The US FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has sent a warning letter to the developers of the applications Meet24, FastMeet and Meet4U by allowing children up to 12 years old to open an account with them and enjoy the services they offered. These applications belong to the company Wildec LCC, located in Ukraine. Through these applications, personal information such as date of birth, email address, personal photographs and real-time location of users was collected.
The privacy policy of the three applications warned that it was the registration of minors under 13 years of age was prohibited but, subsequently, they did not block said users nor did they take any action against them. But not only that, but these same applications also did not offer security mechanisms for adults to get in touch with underage users.In fact, several users of dating apps are in the middle of criminal proceedings for trying to contact minors.
The entry of a minor in a dating app must be reported to its parents
According to the FTC, these three dating apps, also removed from Apple's App Store, may be in violation of the COPPA rule. That rule requires apps that collect data from users under the age of 13 to notify parents of what they are doing so they can act accordingly. In addition, the Commerce Commission believes that these tools are developing unfair practices that could endanger the integrity of the consumer.
These three applications are no longer listed on the Android Play Store or the Apple App Store.The commission considers that, in the future, these places of meetings and appointments can appear again in the repositories of applications but only if they do so in 'adult' version
Children increasingly access to have their first mobile device earlier and parents must take extreme precautions. The mobile is a tool that, today, seems essential and for minors it can be a lifesaver, literally. For this we have applications that track them. But, at the same time, they can be a door to a dangerous world, exposed to unscrupulous sexual predators who will not hesitate to knock on the door to make themselves noticed. For this purpose, parents have a series of tools that monitor the use of their children's mobile phones and thus keep any unwanted activity at bay.Adults with children must take this issue very seriously and not forbid them from using their mobile phones, but rather educate them in a rational and intelligent use of it. And censor what they shouldn't see, of course.
