How Kids Apps Leak Personal Data and Passwords

Are you aware of the truth behind how kids apps leak personal data and passwords? It doesn’t matter if you’re the one handling the reins. You want some peace and quiet, so you hand your tablet or smartphone to your child, let them go through their favorite music or media app, and breathe a sigh of relief. 

Sure, your kids are happily occupied, learning numbers, tunes, watching some classic shows, or building fantasy cities. However, have you ever wondered about the darker side of all of this, where quiet, invisible transactions are often taking place?

The sad reality of apps is that no matter how kid-friendly, safe, and educational they might seem, they quietly package up pieces of your child’s identity and send them out into harvesters. 

This is the unsettling reality of many kids’ apps today, where personal data and even passwords can be the unadvertised price of admission.

How Kids Apps Leak Personal Data and Passwords – Diving In

Here is how:

Free Apps Aren’t Really Free: How Data Becomes the Price

So, how does this happen? How do “free” apps manage to harvest personalized data without you knowing? The process is far more subtle, woven into the very fabric of how these apps are built and paid for. To understand it, we need to pull back each layer on the economics of “free.”

Most kids’ apps are free to download, but how do they stay afloat? It’s clear that developers need to make money, and that income needs to come from two main sources: advertising and in-app purchases. 

To make these systems “effective,” a staggering amount of data is harvested. Here’s where the leaks begin.

First, consider the ad networks. To serve what they call “relevant” ads (even in a game for toddlers), these networks want to build a profile of you. When your child plays, the app can send out information: a unique identifier for your device, your IP address (which reveals your general location), which other apps are on the tablet, and even how long they play a certain level. 

This data is shared with a complex chain of third-party companies you’ve never heard of. Sometimes, this information is enough to indirectly uncover more; for instance, combining a device ID with other data floating around the web can link back to an adult’s social media profile, effectively identifying the place you live.

When Hidden Toolkits Become Trojans

The second, more dangerous leak comes from Software Development Kits, or SDKs. Think of these as pre-built toolkits that developers plug into their apps to add features easily. It’s like a tool for playing video ads or one for connecting to social media. The problem is, you don’t always know what’s inside that unit. Some of these SDKs are notorious for collecting far more data than the app itself needs. For instance, they send it directly back to their own parent companies.

 The app developer might have good intentions, but a rogue SDK buried in their code can be siphoning data without their full knowledge or control. A study a few years back found that many popular apps were transmitting data to a dozen or more different third-party tracking companies.

How Do Passwords Leak Through This?

Here is where the risk escalates, from profiles to passwords. It rarely happens because an app doesn’t directly steal a password you type; rather through two common flaws.

Insecure Data Storage

There are circumstances when apps ask a child to create a profile with a username. Also, there are situations when these third-party apps also ask for a password to “save your game.” 

If that app developer doesn’t follow strict security practices, that password might be stored on the device in plain text. It’s like writing it on a sticky note stuck to the tablet. If another app on the same device gets hacked or if the tablet is lost, that information is out in the open.

Overprivileged Apps

The second way passwords and data leak is through “overprivileged” apps. This is when a simple drawing game asks for permission to access your device’s photos, microphone, contacts, and storage. And here is where you need to stop and question why photo and mic permissions are needed for a simple app for color education. 

Often, parents blindly click “yes” just to get the app working. An app with access to your storage can scan for other files. If you have a document or a note saved anywhere on the device with your own passwords (and many people do), that information could be scooped up and transmitted. 

It’s not the kids’ app stealing your bank login directly; it’s the app taking the key to the drawer where you keep all your other keys.

Kids Apps Leak Personal Data and Passwords – How to Prevent It

You now know that Kids apps leak personal data and passwords, but you still need to know how to prevent that from happening. Here are a few precautionary measures to pay attention to: 

Parental Controls

Even if parents aren’t the ones to accidentally allow permissions that could leak data and passwords, the kid can be the one to. It’s important that parents go through and manage all control settings, specifically if your child is a toddler or underage. If you’re using any software for it, ensure that you only use an authentic one. 

Device Security

Apart from parental controls, you need to password-protect and biometrically lock all important apps and accounts on the device your kids use. This is to avoid any unnecessary slips. Apart from internal security, always protect your devices with the best security apps like a password manager, Anti-virus, VPNs, etc. 

Use a Password Manager

Just in case your device is managing many apps and each has the same simple password, it’s best that you change it quickly. Never choose just one simple password for sensitive folders. There are games that are hidden trojans that can break through it. Consider using the best password manager that can generate strong passwords, and you can store them safely in a vault. 

Enable 2FA

Enabling 2FA allows you to add double the security to your devices. This way, no third parties can hack your devices through vulnerable kids’ apps. 

FAQs – Kids Apps Leak Personal Data and Passwords

To Conclude

Coming to the end of this guide on how kids apps leak personal data and passwords, it’s important that both parents and kids are educated on the matter. The dangers of modern-day apps are so tricky to a point even the most dangerous ones seem harmless. For this reason, practicing effective security measures is a must.