The Federal Trade Commission has banned the developers of anonymous messaging app NGL from offering it to kids under 18 for falsely claiming that its AI filtered out bullying and tricking people into signing up for premium services.NGL lets you generate URLs that can be used to solicit anonymous feedback from followers on social media. Short for “not gonna lie,” NGL allows your followers to answer or pose questions without revealing their identities. It was popular on Instagram a few years back, where people added NGL Q&As to their Stories.While it’s marketed as anonymous, NGL said it could tell you who sent a message—but only if you paid for NGL Pro for up to $9.99 per week. According to the FTC, however, those who subscribed to NGL Pro “only received useless ‘hints,’ such as the time the message was sent, whether the sender had an Android or iPhone device, and the sender’s general location.” When users complained, “NGL executives laughed [it] off, dismissing such users as ‘suckers,'” the FTC says.NGL also “failed to prevent rampant cyberbullying and threats against children and teens,” the FTC says. “One consumer reported that their friend had attempted suicide because of the NGL app, according to the complaint.”App developers also made little attempt to confirm app users’ ages or to obtain parental consent for kids under 13, as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).This prompted the FTC and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office to sue NGL and two of its co-founders, Raj Vir and Joao Figueiredo. They have now settled for $5 million and promised not to market the app to kids under 18. If approved, the deal means $4.5 million “to provide redress to consumers,” the FTC says, and a $500,000 civil penalty paid to the LA DA’s office.
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“The consequences of these actions can be severe. The anonymity provided by the app can facilitate rampant cyberbullying among teens, causing untold harm to our young people,” says LA District Attorney George Gascón said. “We cannot tolerate such behavior, nor can we allow companies to profit at the expense of our children’s safety and well-being.”Over the years, many companies have tried and failed to produce an anonymous app that doesn’t eventually devolve into cyberbullying. Secret closed its doors years ago due to the problem, and Ask.fm was investigated for cyberbullying after a 14-year-old girl died by suicide. Yik Yak, a location-based anonymous posting app, eventually had to put geofences around schools to keep kids from using the app.
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