FTC sues Edmodo over breach of children’s privacy

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States has sued Edmodo for collecting and utilising data on minors. By September 2022, Edmodo had become a popular application among children in kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools across the United States, and given the situation with the COVID-19 outbreak, the government made a concerted attempt to involve children in online learning, from which Edmodo benefited immensely.

Human Rights Watch discovered that Edmodo and other online learning programs breached children’s privacy by gathering and monitoring children’s personal information and identifying their devices for advertising purposes.

Edmodo responded that it does not disclose personal information to its business partners or other parties.

According to the FTC, this is the first time the government has prohibited a corporation from requiring minors to give up their privacy to study.

Owners frequently leave children unsecured online, and most firms continue to monitor youngsters online despite a lack of regulations requiring them to do so. The FTC could only punish Edmodo on the narrow ground that it violated an antiquated privacy statute, which is why Senator Ed Markey, one of its architects, has called for its repeal.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly encouraged Congress to enact comprehensive rules to safeguard children’s data, and the surgeon general has urged lawmakers to compel firms to preserve children’s privacy.