Data privacy risks in child-targeted Android apps worldwide - Incogni Research

LOS ANGELES - Dec. 15, 2023 - PRLog -- Incogni, a leading personal information removal service, has conducted an analysis of child-targeted Android apps, shedding light on concerning data privacy practices prevalent in children's apps globally. The data was gathered and analyzed for the 10 most popular child-targeted apps from 59 countries, which yielded a total of 74 unique apps—primarily games. The investigation focused on the data safety sections of these apps on the Google Play Store.

Out of these 74 popular children's apps, Incogni identified 34 that were collecting user data, and 21 that were sharing data. The 34 data-collecting apps gather data from an average of 5.7 data points and share from an average of 2.8 data categories. Notably, 11 apps were recognized as particularly data-hungry, collecting 7 or more data points, with five collecting 10 or more, mainly their users' approximate location (4), email addresses (8), photos (2), and purchase histories (8). These 11 apps accounted for 55% of all data points collected by the investigated apps, including analytics, app functionality, fraud prevention, and advertising/marketing.

In a global breakdown, apps popular in Oceania exhibited the highest average of 5.3 data points per use, with those in New Zealand coming in at the top.

Apps in Europe averaged 5 data points, with the most data being collected in Finland (6.7 collected data points), followed by Ireland (6.2), Portugal (6.0), Poland (6.0) and Spain (5.6).

North America ranked as the third most data-hungry region, with popular apps collecting an average of 4.1 data points and sharing 0.2. Apps popular with Americans collected 4.9 data points, almost double Mexico's 2.6.

The complexity of privacy settings, legal and regulatory gaps, and weak enforcement, contribute to the persistence of exploitative practices. The issue is intensified further by the lack of parental education. Incogni emphasizes the need for enhanced transparency and user control, urging app developers to prioritize the privacy and security of their youngest users.

"Addressing this problem requires collaborative efforts from parents, regulators, and tech companies to establish and enforce clear and strong standards that prioritize children's online safety and privacy, including parental education, industry self-regulation, and legal frameworks." Darius Belejevas, Head of Incogni, outlines.

Data collection from the Google Play Store took place on November 28, 2023. ​​The full text of the study and images are available here: https://blog.incogni.com/children-android-app-research/