On Tuesday, I reported that three dating apps were removed from Apple and Google stores at the weekend after a warning from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that the apps have no age enforcement in place and so "allow adults to find and communicate with children," including those under 13-years-old.
The removals came after the FTC had sent a stern warning to Wildec, the Ukraine-based developer of FastMeet, Meet24 and Meet4U, telling them that "despite a statement in each app's Privacy Policy that users under 13 years of age are not allowed to use the apps, users who indicate they are under 13 are not prevented from accessing and using the apps or being visible to other users."
Then on Friday, inside a week, the apps had returned. A Wildec spokesperson told me that they had "fulfilled all [the] requirements [from the] FTC [to] get approval. We reacted [to the] FTC request immediately on 1 May, even before our apps were removed from stores. Finally, on 10 May, Google Play approved [putting] our apps back and Meet24, Meet4U and FastMeet apps are available again."
I checked on Friday and confirmed that the apps could be accessed on Google Play but not as yet on the Apple Store. Apple has been slower to reverse the decision. "The Apple Store apps are also on review right now," the Wildec spokesperson told me," asking me to "post an update for the [original] article if possible."
The three apps account for the vast majority of Wildec's app business, and it is no surprise how quickly the company responded to the removals. On Tuesday, the same spokesperson had acknowledged that "we got the [FTC] letter on 1 May, [and] immediately reacted [to the] FTC requirements and fixed all the issues, including removing all data from underage accounts. Registration is not possible anymore."
The FTC complaint was harsh. The agency was clear that the apps violate laws on child protection, capturing users' ages and real-time location data, and so "sexual predators can search by age and location to identify children nearby." The FTC tested one of the apps and found that "FTC staff was able to search for other users by age and location to find users near our location who indicated that they were as young as 12 years old."
The FTC's letter to the company said that "several individuals in the United States have faced criminal charges for communicating or attempting to communicate with minors via Wildec's apps."
Great that they're back now, then.
