'Angry Birds' maker sued for violating child privacy

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has announced a federal lawsuit against the developer of popular "Angry Birds" mobile gaming franchise. The lawsuit in federal district court claimed that the video game developer Rovio Entertainment collects and sells the personal data of children under the age of 13, reports Apple Insider.

Balderas claims that Rovio "monetizes children by surreptitiously exfiltrating their personal information while they play the Angry Birds Gaming Apps and then using that personal information for commercial exploitation." The personal information collected includes data like device names, online activity history and more.

The suit claims that Rovio's practices violate state privacy laws as well as the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires that developers of child-directed games obtain parental consent before collecting any personal information from players and if a developer creates a game targeted at a broad audience, the developer still must take steps to ensure that it does not collect information from users under the age of 13. Now, the state seeks an injunction prohibiting the company's data collection practices, civil penalties, restitution, and other relief.

The game was first released in 2009 and has led to 35 spin-off games and has an estimated total of 4.5 billion downloads to date. (IANS)

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