Yahoo Finance 'Disturbing' apps are targeting children on Google's Play Store, campaign groups warn
Google is facing allegations of distributing 'disturbing and potentially dangerous' apps targeted at children.
Twenty-two organisations have claimed the tech company is allowing children to download apps onto their phones that contain adult content and have manipulative advertising.
They say these apps are shown on the children’s section of the Play store for smartphones running on Google's Android software.
Some of the apps show "activities that could result in serious harm if imitated by children or contained other inappropriate depictions," according to 99-page letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The letter cites the examples of "Crazy Eye Clinic", an app in which a child is told to pry open the patient’s eyes with clamps and use tweezers to pick out eyelashes.
The call for FTC action is being led by two groups, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy.
They have both previously attacked Google's approach to kids.
In April, they asked the FTC to crack down on Google's YouTube video site for alleged violations of children's online privacy.
Twenty other groups, including Consumer Action, Public Citizen and the US Public Interest Research Group, joined in the latest complaint.
Google issued a statement emphasising its commitment to protecting children while they are online - one of the reasons the company says it prohibits targeted advertising at children under 13.
A Google spokesperson said: “Parents want their children to be safe online and we work hard to protect them. Apps in our Designed for Families program have to comply with strict policies on content, privacy and advertising, and we take action on any policy violations that we find.
“We take these issues very seriously and continue to work hard to remove any content that is inappropriately aimed at children from our platform.
“Our ads policies prohibit advertisers from collecting personal information from, or serving personalised advertising to, users under 13 or the applicable age in their country.”
Two Democrat politicians in the US House of Representatives, David Cicilline and Tom Udall, have put their support behind the groups pushing for the investigation.
Mr Udall said: "It is past time for the Federal Trade Commission to crack down to protect children's privacy.”
The FTC previously punished both Google and Apple for what it deemed to be child exploitation.
In 2014, it reached a settlement requiring Google to refund $19m (£15m) for allowing apps distributed through its store to charge children for purchases made without parents' consent.
That came after a similar agreement required Apple to refund $32.5m (£25m) for in-app purchases made on iPhones, iPads and other devices without parents' permission.
