Google has been sued by the Digital Childhood Institute over alleged violations of U.S. privacy laws involving unfair and deceptive practices involving children and teens, according to CyberScoop.In a formal complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission, the nonprofit alleges Google "knowingly" promotes adult-themed apps as safe for minors, violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, enables "exploitative" contracts between app developers and children, bills minors for in-app purchases without parental consent, and removes parental controls when users turn 13."For example, Google uses no human moderation in its initial rating of apps, relying instead on an automated survey by the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) that takes only minutes to complete," the group wrote in a letter. Such claims mirror an earlier complaint the group filed against Apple.The Digital Childhood Alliance, which includes the Institute, said in a blog post that both companies have agreed to new age-verification and parental-consent tools in states with age-verification laws and is calling for nationwide adoption."Parents will finally have a real say before their children agree to complex contracts with trillion-dollar companies," according to the blog post.
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