Weight Watchers diet app collected data on kids as young as 8, FTC says

WW International, formerly known as Weight Watchers, and a subsidiary used a diet app to illegally collect personal data about children as young as eight, the Federal Trade Commission said on Friday.

In a complaint filed by the Justice Department on behalf of the FTC, regulators allege that the app collected the children’s names, email addresses and dates of birth without their parents ’consent. This is a violation of the Online Child Protection Act (COPPA), which requires online applications, websites, and services for children to obtain parental permission before collecting, using, or disclosing information. staff of children under 13 years.

Until the end of 2019, users of the Weight Watchers app could register with the service by stating online that they were a parent registering their child or someone over the age of 13, the FTC said. A liquidation order requires WW and its Kurbo unit to pay a $ 1.5 million fine and clear sensitive health information.

“Our order against these companies demands that they delete their failed data, destroy the resulting algorithms, and pay a penalty for violating the law,” said FTC President Lina Khan. , in a statement.

Weight Watchers, the diet company since the 1960s, acquired technology startup Kurbo Health in 2018. In 2020, they launched a health and wellness app, Kurbo by WW, for children ages 8-17. The launch was controversial, with researchers investigating eating disorders. therapists and pediatricians among those concerned would further stigmatize heavier children.

The company allegedly encouraged younger users to falsely claim that they were over the age of 13 to avoid the requirement that parents have to consent before data is collected about their preadolescents.

“From 2014 to 2019, hundreds of users who registered on the app claiming to be over 13 years later changed their birth dates to their profiles to indicate that they were actually under 13,” according to the government complaint . These users continued to have access to the app until FTC staff contacted the companies, the agency said.

The enrollment option for children was reviewed in 2020, but problems with children being able to circumvent the age restriction continued, the FTC added.

Kurbo disputed non-compliance with the rules that protect children’s online privacy, saying he took swift action to address possible compliance gaps once notified by the FTC.

“At no time did Kurbo target children with advertising, sell data to third parties or monetize its users in any way, and no parent or child ever complained that Kurbo used their personal data in an inappropriate manner,” Michael Colosi, attorney general. in Kurbo, he said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.

The deal, approved Thursday by a federal judge in California, is not an admission of misconduct, but a reflection of Kurbo’s “desire to focus on his business and his mission to continue helping families and families.” children in a safe and secure environment “, Colosi. added.

The financial sanction for WW and Kurbo pales in comparison with a $ 170 million fine on Google in 2019 after the FTC alleged that YouTube violated COPPA by offering child-targeted ads.

The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2016 published a report that discouraged children and adolescents from talking about weight or the need to lose extra pounds. Research has found that these conversations can increase the chances of developing an eating disorder or gain weight later, the medical group said.