On December 17, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its first Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) enforcement actions challenging the use of persistent identifiers to engage in targeted advertising to children. The FTC alleges that two app developers—LAI Systems, LLC (LAI) and Retro Dreamer and its principals (Retro Dreamer)—allowed third-party advertising networks to collect persistent identifiers in order to serve targeted ads to children in their apps without providing appropriate notice or obtaining parental consent, as required by COPPA. The developers entered into settlements with the FTC to resolve the allegations. The settlements prohibit the developers from further violations of COPPA and require them to pay a combined $360,000 in civil penalties. These COPPA actions are the first the FTC has brought involving the collection of persistent identifiers, a data category that the FTC added to the definition of “personal information” when it expanded the scope of the COPPA Rule in 2013. These settlements also mark the first COPPA actions involving targeted advertising to children.
Click here to read our complete WSGR Alert addressing the FTC enforcement actions.