The staff of the Federal Trade Commission sent letters to two foreign companies that market electronic devices and apps that appear to collect geolocation data from children, warning that the companies may be in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule. The letters were sent to China-based Gator Group Co., Ltd., and…
Category: Online
WhatsApp to raise minimum age limit to 16 in EU
BBC reports: Popular messaging service WhatsApp is banning under-16s from using its platform in the European Union. Users must currently be at least 13, but the firm is changing the rules ahead of the introduction of new EU data privacy regulations in May. The app, which is owned by Facebook, will ask users to confirm…
Facebook Has Hosted Stolen Identities and Social Security Numbers for Years
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai reports: Cybercriminals have posted sensitive personal information, such as credit card and social security numbers, of dozens of people on Facebook and have advertised entire databases of private information on the social platform. Some of these posts have been left up on Facebook for years, and the internet giant only acted on these…
State appeals court rules Texas’ “revenge porn” law violates the First Amendment
Emma Platoff reports: An appeals court has struck down Texas’ “revenge porn” law, ruling that the statute is overly broad and violates the First Amendment. The 2015 state law targets what author state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, called “a very disturbing internet trend” of posting a previous partner’s nude or semi-nude photos to the web without…