WASHINGTON — Kids have easy and inexpensive access to hundreds
of smartphone applications, but parents are in the dark about
what personal information is being collected from their children
and how companies are using the data, government regulators said
Thursday. The Federal Trade Commission said companies that make
mobile apps, and the stores that sell them, should be providing
parents with basic, simple-to-understand information about their
products so they can choose which apps their children can use.
The report also says developers should disclose whether their
apps connect with social media services or include
advertisements. Mobile apps can automatically capture smartphone
information, such as a person’s location, phone number, call
logs and personal contacts. The market for mobile apps has
exploded over the past few years, according to the FTC. In 2008,
there were about 600 apps available to smartphone users. Now
there are hundreds of thousands that have been downloaded more
than 28 billion times, the