Groups Urge FTC Probe on Android Apps ‘Manipulating’ Children

The FTC should investigate whether Android apps manipulate children into watching advertisements and making purchases, some 20 consumer and health advocates wrote the agency Tuesday. Citing a University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital study, the groups question 135 children’s apps “marketed to or played by children under five.” Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Privacy Information Center and Public Citizen signed. “These apps routinely lure young children to make purchases and watch ads, though they are marketed to parents as appropriate for young children,” they wrote. Google and the FTC didn’t comment.