Tilting Point Media reached a $500,000 settlement with the state of California for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
California alleges that Tilting Point Media’s mobile app, SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, collected personal information from users who it had actual knowledge were children and the app was directed to children and processed such information in violation of COPPA and the CCPA.
Actual knowledge that app was directed to children
The California AG alleges, in the complaint, that Tiling Point had actual knowledge that children under 13 years old were using the SpongeBob app as numerous users self-identified as children under 13 years old, and between 13-16 years old though the app’s age gate.
The AG also claims that Tilting Point’s age screen did not ask for age in a neutral manner because the birthday defaulted to the year 1953, requiring users under 13 to scroll through more than 50 years to select an accurate birth year, which purportedly encouraged children to identify as adults.
Moreover, the AG found SpongeBob app directed to children, although it also targets teens and adults because the “visual content, use of animated characters and fun background music, as well as the simplistic nature of gameplay make the game simple and basic for consumers under the age of 13.”
Misconfigured SDKs that failed to obtain the required parental or opt-in consent
Despite having users under 16 and the nature of the app, Tilting Point allegedly failed to review or audit its third-party SDKs to ensure CCPA and COPPA compliance, resulting in the processing of children’s information for advertising purposes without the legally required consent. The complaint indicates Tilting Point processed data of children under 13 without parental consent in violation of COPPA, including by allowing those children to consent to the processing of their data for the purpose of receiving “personalized” advertising. Similarly, the company violated the CCPA by allegedly selling and sharing the data of users between the ages of 13–16-years-old without obtaining their affirmative opt-in consent.
Ambiguous and incomplete privacy policy
California alleges that Tilting Point violated the CCPA by failing to disclose in its privacy policy that it sells or shares personal information, particularly children’s data, to third-party advertisers and how consumers or parents can exercise their CCPA rights.
Inappropriate and deceptive ads
Finally, Tilting Point allegedly violated California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) by serving inappropriate and deceptive ads. Specifically, the SpongeBob app purportedly displayed ads that were not obviously labeled as advertisements, did not provide clear exit methods on full screen ads, were not age-approripiate, and used “unfair, deceptive, or other manipulative tactics” to encourage children to engage with advertisements, download additional apps, and make unwanted purchases.
Settlement
Tilting Point settled for $500,000 ($250,000 paid to the CA AG, and $250,000 paid to the LA City Attorney) and agreed, among other things, to:
- Direct users under 16 to a child-specific version of the app that does not sell or share personal information without parental or teen opt-in consent as required by COPPA or CCPA.
- To include third-party SDK providers by name and purpose in the privacy policy with the categories of personal information sold or shared along with the business or commercial purpose for doing so.
- To audit of the SDKs to ensure they are properly configured and do not violate COPPA and CCPA consent requirements.
- Use an age gate that does not default to a set age of 16 or above or encourage users to falsify age information.
- Treat all apps and games that feature SpongeBob SquarePants characters as directed to children, even if they also target teens and adults.
- Comply with COPPA and advertising requirements for children; and
- Conduct annual compliance assessments and annual employee training.
