This week's review of ad fraud and privacy in the digital advertising space:
Gizmodo wrote about Disconnect's new 'Do No Track Kids App,' which aims to push against the data collection overreach on child users by most child-directed apps. The article cites data from Pixalate's Q1 Google vs. Apple COPPA Scorecard, saying:
"There’s a law in the United States that says companies aren’t supposed to track young children, but they do it anyway. More than two thirds of the most popular kids’ iPhone apps collect and share personal information, according to a recent study from Pixalate."
Bloomberg reported on a new lawsuit filed against Google by the State of Texas, claiming that Google's search engine has been illegally capturing biometric data on users without consent including voice prints and facial data. This lawsuit is the latest in series of legal challenges in the battle over internet privacy.
Forbes published a column outlining the current efforts underway to enhance children's privacy measures, including a letter from Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) who is leading a group of U.S. senators to push the Federal Trade Commission to update COPPA. A cybersecurity expert suggested going further and looking to regulatory requirements that encompass "smarter" consent, including "more powerful permissions around data collection, use and sharing.".
Google will face an $162 million fine from India, where it dominates 97% of the smartphone market, for anti-competitive practices, reported TechCrunch. This comes as Google has invested billions in the country over the past decade. The fine states that Google's large market share in the country has resulted in the "denial of market access for competing search apps."
"The U.S. advertising marketplace fell 4.6% in September vs. the same month a year ago, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline, and suggesting the beginning of a new U.S. ad recession," reported MediaPost.