Alleged child data tracking to be resolved by Google with $8.25M

Google has approved an $8.25 million settlement for a class-action lawsuit alleging illegal data collection from devices owned by children younger than 13, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Apps from the Google Play Store with the "Designed for Families" label, including the Fun Kid Racing, GummyBear, and Friends Speed Racing games, featured Google's AdMob software development kit that obtained children's data at scale even though apps under the DFF program have been required to adhere to the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act that only allows data collection from youths 12 and younger with parental consent, alleged the lawsuit. Google was also accused of knowingly violating COPPA.

Such a development comes after Google was ordered by another federal judge to pay $30 million to resolve claims of illicit child data collection involving its YouTube division. IP addresses and other data from YouTube viewers were alleged to have been leveraged by Google for targeted advertising.