UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office launches new review into how 10 “popular mobile games” keep children safe

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a new investigation into 10 “popular mobile games” to assess how they safeguard their youngest users.

While the ICO did not reveal which specific games the review would target, the organization said it would be reviewing default privacy settings, geolocation controls, targeted advertising practices, and “any other privacy issues identified during the review process.”

With around 90% of children using digital devices – and 84% of parents reporting concerns about their children being targeted online either by predators or harmful content – the ICO says this focus on mobile games “follows significant progress in improving children’s privacy standards across social media and video-sharing platforms through its children’s code strategy.”

The office also revealed that 30% of children have stopped playing a mobile game because of concerns about how data is collected or used, and three in four parents are worried about the data shared about their children, or how game companies serve adverts to minors.

“Children’s online experiences are shaped not just by social media and video sharing platforms, but also by the games they play,” said UK information commissioner, John Edwards.

“Our early review suggests that many mobile games’ design features can be especially intrusive, raising important questions about how these games are designed and experienced, and their adherence to the ICO’s Children’s code standards.

“We’re expanding our strategy to ensure that mobile games meet the same high standards of data protection we’ve driven across other platforms.”

Last week, The New York Times published a “tense” interview with Roblox CEO David Baszucki, in which he was questioned about the company’s child safety measures.

In an interview on the Hard Fork podcast, when asked why he was “so confident” that the company’s child safety measures were working, Baszucki wouldn’t be drawn on individual cases, but insisted “we’re not doing this because of any laws that are coming, we think it’s the right thing to do.”