"Responsibilities of the gaming industry in protecting children's rights", 27 Jul 2015

In 2013...the UK’s Office of Fair Trading...launched an investigation into the way in-app purchases were marketed to children. It expressed concerns that some companies were attempting to exploit “children’s inexperience, vulnerability and credulity, including by aggressive commercial practices” such as “direct exhortations to children to buy advertised products” or persuading their parents to do so for them...The Children’s Rights and Business Principles, developed by UNICEF, the UN Global Compact and Save the Children, are also applicable to video games...The recently updated Guidelines for Industry on Child Online Protection provide further guidance on protecting children’s rights online for companies that develop, provide or make use of information and communication technologies...However... some developers of children’s apps are unaware of the principles and guidelines that apply to their products - or are choosing to ignore them...Data capture is another problem. Vicki Shotbolt, CEO of The Parent Zone, says that the amount of children’s data being captured through some apps without parental consent is “massively troubling”. She suggests that the UK should introduce an equivalent to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act...in the United States...[Refers to Amazon, Apple, Google, Mind Candy]