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Child-directed mobile apps can covertly transmit digital identifiers, such as physical locations, email addresses, or device identifiers, to third party companies not associated with the apps. In this cohort study of 124 children ages 3 to 5 years (52% girls), researchers evaluated rates of such transmissions and their associations with sociodemographic characteristics.
Participants' Android devices and apps were monitored for an average of 9 days. Among the 451 apps collectively used by the group, 67% transmitted identifiers to third-party domains. Apps with Google's Designed for Families (DFF) designation (n=153) had significantly fewer transmissions than non-DFF apps (44% vs. 27%, respectively, had no transmissions).
At the level of the in…