A group of 22 children’s and consumer organizations filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, alleging Google’s endorsement of children’s apps in its Google Play store is misleading, The New York Times reports. The complaint requests the FTC to investigate “whether Google is misrepresenting to parents that the apps in the Family section of the Play Store are child-appropriate when they are not,” which, they state, would be a violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. The group also alleges some apps appear to violate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. “Apps in our Designed for Families program have to comply with strict policies on content, privacy and advertising, and we take action on any policy violations that we find,” a spokesman for Google said. (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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