Analyzing Privacy Implications of Mobile Apps Data Collection across Age Groups

Mobile applications increasingly access a wide range of personal information, raising significant privacy concerns, particularly for children and teenagers. Previous studies have shown low compliance between privacy policies and permissions in mobile apps. However, current research has not yet explored how an app’s target age group influences the permissions it requests, especially among minors. While recent regulatory frameworks like COPPA, CCPA, and GDPR establish clear rules for data acquisition and privacy for specific age groups, their practical application remains uncertain. This research investigates how data collection practices align with privacy policies among mobile applications targeting different age groups. We show that, on average, the same application collects more user data when downloaded from Google Play than the Apple App Store. Furthermore, applications targeting teenagers collect data more frequently than those targeting other age groups, indicating the necessity for strict regulations for this age group.