children

Anyone wanting to download the SpongeBob Diner Dash game from Apple's iTunes app store today is out of luck.

Nickelodeon has removed the app from the store after an advocacy group filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging the game violated children's online privacy rights by collecting their e-mail addresses without parents' permission.

According to the Center for Digital Democracy, which filed the complaint earlier today, cable network Nickelodeon and mobile game-maker PlayFirst are misleadingly marketing the game and are violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

SpongeBob Diner Dash is a free app … Read more

The developer of a mobile app for children temporarily pulled the free game from the Apple App Store and Google Android Play store today after learning it was the subject of a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission.

Mobbles, a geolocation game in which children collect and care for virtual pets, collected personal information such as e-mail addresses without parental consent, according to a complaint filed yesterday by the Center for Digital Democracy. The federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires Web site operators to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children younger than … Read more

In February 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report titled Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing (PDF) that pointed out that there was "little or no" privacy information available to parents in the Android Google Play and Apple iOS app stores prior to download and scarce data in the apps themselves or on the app vendors websites.

And on Monday, the FTC issued a follow up report, Mobile Apps for Kids Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade that complains that "despite many high-visibility efforts to increase transparency in the mobile marketplace, little … Read more

If you've ever lost track of your child or an elderly relative, it's hard to forget the panic of not knowing where he or she is. This GPS watch is designed to help prevent your loved ones from going missing.

Besides telling the time, the Leo wristwatch from Guardian Lion Wireless is also a phone, GPS locator, and 911 panic button. It can be used as a tracking device to find your wayward child or older relative with dementia.

As an option, the titanium strap can be locked. It has a tamper alert, so you'll know if anyone tries to take the watch off. A criminal would need bolt cutters to remove it. … Read more

The cancer ward at Seattle Children's Hospital will be overrun with cats tomorrow. Lots and lots of cats.

Normally, this would be extremely problematic in a sterile medical environment, but not in this case. Young cancer patients with immunities too low to participate in pet therapy will get to physically connect with the felines via an interactive online playroom. Rabbits, puppies, and goats too.

They'll do so via a live interface set up by Seattle Children's and Boise, Idaho-based Reach-in, which created the interactive technology that lets remote viewers control fluffy robotic cat toys in real time. It's not the same as holding a furry friend, but it might be the next best thing for these kids, some of whom must remain in total isolation while they battle cancer. … Read more

Kids at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis got a Spidey-size surprise last week when they spotted none other than Spider-Man rappelling down the side of the building, with Captain America in hot pursuit.

The superhero sighting came courtesy of a few real-life superheroes -- employees of the commercial window cleaning company American National Skyline who wanted to do something nice for the young patients. Rosetta Ford, an administrative assistant in the hospital's environmental-services department, suggested costumes, so Steve Oszaniec, his son Danny Oszaniec, and Jordan Emerson suited up superhero-style, secured themselves in their window-washing safety harnesses, and started their slide down the 12-story building. … Read more

Like any parent, I prize the Picasso-caliber works of art my kids create at school and around the house.

Alas, I don't own a warehouse, so I simply don't have room to store all these masterpieces. What am I supposed to do, throw them in the trash? The guilt! The guilt!

Now there's an app for that: Art My Kid Made. (It's available now for iOS and soon for Android.) With it you can take photos of various crafts and drawings to preserve for posterity, and share them via Evernote, Facebook, or Twitter.

The app is … Read more

Facebok worries that teens' right to freedom of expression will be inhibited if child privacy laws limit the ability of Web sites to incorporate the social network's "Like" button.

In a 20-page letter (PDF) sent to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission last week, Facebook objected to proposed revisions to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. The social network argues that revised limitations on plug-ins could create "significant impediments" on "innovation and the ecosystem that shapes students' online experiences":

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Google turns 14: A look at the birthday-gift table.

- Pornoogle: Yes, a search engine just for porn.

- 404 error pages to feature missing children notices.

- Did blowing into Nintendo cartridges really help?

Check out Bridget Carey on the Web's best daily tech news show, CNET Update.

Video Voice mail: Dan from Golden Colorado ran the Denver Rock 'n Roll Marathon… Read more