Yelp Inc. collected names and e-mail addresses from children as young as 9 without the consent of their parents, federal regulators said in a lawsuit accusing the online customer-review company of violating U.S. privacy rules.
The Federal Trade Commission’s suit against San Francisco- based Yelp follows earlier cases against Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which were accused of failing to get parental consent for purchases made by children with mobile devices.
The FTC claimed in its complaint that Yelp collected names and e-mail addresses from children under 13 who registered for an account, and that it failed to test the age-registration feature on its applications.
Yelp, whose privacy policy says its service isn’t directed at children under 13, didn’t disclose the practice, notify parents or obtain parental consent, in violation of the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, according to the complaint.
A voice-mail message and e-mail to Yelp’s press office for comment on the lawsuit weren’t immediately returned.
In response to the earlier lawsuits, Apple agreed in January to pay $32.5 million to consumers and Google agreed to pay at least $19 million. Amazon is fighting the agency’s claim.
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