White Paper and Checklist on Children’s Online Privacy and Mobile Apps Now Available

July 24, 2012 | The Toy Industry Association’s Responsible Marketing to Children (M2C) Committee has developed a White Paper, The Changing Privacy and Data Security Landscape: From Mobile Apps to OBA, and a corresponding Checklist for Mobile Apps and Promotions to assist members of the industry in understanding an ever-expanding array of laws and regulations, policy initiatives, self-regulatory standards, and reports addressing various aspects of privacy and data security. 

Over the past several months, members of the TIA M2C Committee have been working with outside counsel to monitor developing “hot button” issues in Europe, Washington, DC and California related to privacy protections and non-privacy-related consumer deception and fairness issues linked to mobile app use.  The M2C Committee also created a Subcommittee on Privacy charged with developing a better understanding of current practices in these areas; reviewing existing regulations and self-regulatory guidelines to identify where gaps exist; and developing a strategy and action plans for next steps. 

As a result of its research, the SC on Privacy created two documents:

A TIA Members-Only White Paper, The Changing Privacy and Data Security Landscape: From Mobile Apps to OBA, provides background on the issues and a status report on significant U.S. and international laws and policy developments. 

A TIA Members-Only Checklist for Mobile Apps and Promotions provides a framework that toy companies can use to examine and evaluate the risks and opportunities related to their app initiatives.  The checklist facilitates a robust review of the app initiative or app development process to identify issues and solutions that will protect the company’s legal and reputational interests in its app-related activities. 

Questions on either document can be directed to TIA’s Stacy Leistner (646.520.4858).