Messaging app Sendit guilty of collecting personal data from children and deception

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking legal action against Iconic Hearts Holdings, the company that developed anonymous messaging app Sendit, for unlawfully collecting personal data from children and false advertising.

After a referral from the FTC, the US Department of Justice filed a complaint accusing Iconic Hearts Holdings for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits the collection of personal information of children under the age of 13 without the consent of their parents.

According to the Department of Justice, Iconic Hearts Holdings knew that numerous Sendit users were under the age of 13. Nevertheless, the company failed to notify the parents of the underage users that it collected personal information from their children, including phone numbers, dates of birth, and photos and usernames for Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and other accounts.

Additionally, the company didn’t obtain consent from the parents for such data collection.

Furthermore, Iconic Hearts Holdings deceived Sendit’s users into purchasing its premium membership called “Diamond Membership.” The company falsely claimed that users would find out the identity of people who had sent messages anonymously. Also, the company wasn’t transparent about the membership fees, which were $9.99 per week, rather than a one-time fee.

Lastly, numerous anonymous Sendit messages weren’t sent by friends or social media contacts, but were fake and generated by Iconic Hearts Holdings. In addition, fake messages with provocative and sexual content were sent to users to encourage them to buy its Diamond Membership to reveal who had sent the message.

“Sendit’s operator and CEO were well aware that many of its users were under the age of 13 and still failed to comply with COPPA. At the same time, they manipulated many users, including children, into signing up for their weekly subscription service by sending fake messages and promising to reveal the identity of message senders but failing to deliver,” Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

The court will decide Iconic Hearts Holdings’ fate.