Mobile Apps – Disney & Software Companies
Disney Mobile Apps & Software Companies – Alleged Unauthorized Collection of Personal Information of Children
Philly.com reported (“These Disney apps are spying on your kids, lawsuit claims”) about the class action lawsuit recently filed in California against The Walt Disney Company and software companies for allegedly embedding trackers in mobile apps which secretly collect the personal information of children under the age of 13 and share that data illegally with advertisers without parental consent.
Philly.com reported that
[t]he class-action suit targets Disney and three other software companies – Upsight, Unity and Kochava – alleging that the mobile apps they built together violate the law by gathering insights about app users across the Internet, including those under the age of 13, in ways that facilitate “commercial exploitation.”
. . .
The lawsuit alleges that Disney allowed the software companies to embed trackers in apps such as “Disney Princess Palace Pets” and “Where’s My Water? 2.” Once installed, tracking software can then “exfiltrate that information off the smart device for advertising and other commercial purposes,” according to the suit.
Disney should not be using those software development companies, said Jeffrey Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “These are heavy-duty technologies, industrial-strength data and analytic companies whose role is to track and monetize individuals,” Chester said. “These should not be in little children’s apps.”
Further, Philly.com’s story reported that
[t]his is not the first time Disney has faced litigation over alleged COPPA violations. In 2011, the FTC penalized a company subsidiary, Playdom, $3 million after Playdom was found to have registered about 1.2 million users, most of them children, for online games. The FTC’s lawsuit said Disney collected children’s email addresses and ages, and allowed them to volunteer information such as their full names, instant messenger handles and physical locations as part of their online profiles.
Disney’s Mobile Apps
Philly.com reported the list of affected mobile apps stated in the complaint includes:
AvengersNet; Beauty and the Beast; Perfect Match; Cars Lightning League; Club Penguin Island; Color by Disney; Disney Color and Play; Disney Crossy Road; Disney Dream Treats
Disney Emoji Blitz; Disney Gif; Disney Jigsaw Puzzle!; Disney LOL; Disney Princess: Story Theater; Disney Store Become; Disney Story Central; Disney’s Magic Timer by Oral-B; Disney Princess: Charmed Adventures; Dodo Pop; Disney Build It Frozen; DuckTales: Remastered
Frozen Free Fall; Frozen Free Fall: Icy Shot; Good Dinosaur Storybook Deluxe; Inside Out Thought Bubbles; Maleficent Free Fall; Miles from Tomorrowland: Missions; Moana Island Life; Olaf’s Adventures; Palace Pets in Whisker Haven
Sofia the First Color and Play; Sofia the First Secret Library; Star Wars: Puzzle DroidsTM; Star WarsTM: Commander; Temple Run: Oz; Temple Run: Brave; The Lion Guard; Toy Story: Story Theater; Where’s My Water?; Where’s My Mickey?; Where’s My Water? 2; Where’s My Water? Lite/Where’s My Water? Free; Zootopia Crime Files: Hidden Object
Do You Suspect Child Privacy Violations Associated With Disney Mobile Apps?
If your child uses any of the relevant Internet-based Disney mobile apps, and you suspect your child’s personal information may have been improperly or illegally acquired or used, please complete the form to the right or contact either John Kehoe, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 801, [email protected]; Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected]; or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.
The Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is a multidisciplinary, plaintiff–side law firm dedicated to protecting investors and consumers from corporate fraud, negligence, and other wrongdoing. Driven by a strong and principled sense of social responsibility and obtaining justice for the aggrieved, Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. represents plaintiffs seeking to recover investment losses resulting from securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, corporate wrongdoing or malfeasance, those harmed by anticompetitive practices, and consumers victimized by fraud, negligence, false claims, deception, data breaches or whose rights to minimum wage and overtime compensation under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws have been violated.
