"How Daycare Apps Can Spy on Parents and Children"

Researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), Westfälische Hochschule, and the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy in Bochum, in collaboration with an industry partner, analyzed the security and privacy of 42 daycare apps from Europe and the US. Daycare apps are intended to make daycare center life easier as parents can use them to access reports on their children's development and communicate with teachers. However, the researchers found that it is possible to access private photos of the children by exploiting security flaws contained by the daycare apps. In addition, several apps were discovered accessing users' personal data and sharing it with third parties without consent. Children's data is subject to special protections under the European General Data Protection Regulation and the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, but many daycare apps fail to ensure this protection. Of the examined apps, eight had significant security flaws that, for instance, could have let hackers view the children's private images. The researchers discovered that 40 apps track parents and teachers by gathering the user's phone number and email address as well as details about the device and how the app is used, including when a button is clicked. This information is then shared and sold by the manufacturers to other vendors such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, or Microsoft for specialized marketing initiatives. The team also looked at the providers' privacy policies, finding that many of them do not mention the processing, collection, and selling of data even though they are required to do so under US and European law. However, this does not imply that the providers always act dishonestly. The researchers assume it is a matter of technical and organizational challenges. According to the team, some providers engage in careless behavior because the linked privacy policy is not compliant, partly because it lacks details about how data is processed within the app or the services provided, and often does not get updated for a long period of time. This article continues to discuss findings from the privacy and security analysis of mobile childcare apps.

RUB reports "How Daycare Apps Can Spy on Parents and Children"