Often times, you might see an influencer on Instagram pose a question to their followers. This is done to boost engagement and to get feedback. Instagram isn’t the only place such tools exist. In fact, there is an app called Sendit that allows users to submit questions anonymously. Unfortunately, the Sendit app might be in trouble with the FTC as it alleges that it has collected the data on children illegally.
Sendit app may have illegally collected data on children
According to the FTC complaint , Sendit and its parent company Iconic Hearts Holdings, along with CEO Hunter Rice, violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act . The Sendit app was popular among teens and allowed users to ask and receive anonymous questions through Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok.
But here’s where things got shady. In 2022 alone, over 116,000 users reported being under 13 years old while using the app. Despite this, Sendit allegedly continued collecting data on children without obtaining parental consent, which is a big no-no under COPPA.
The complaint also revealed how Sendit allegedly tricked users into buying subscriptions. The app would send fake messages to users, sometimes provocative. It would ask things like “would you ever get with me?” or “have you done drugs?” Then it would encourage users to pay $9.99 for a “Diamond Membership” to reveal who sent the message. Except the messages were fake, generated by Sendit itself. Even if the message was real, users only got generic info like phone type or location. Not the actual sender’s identity.
What’s more worrying is that Sendit doesn’t seem too concerned about these issues. When TechCrunch spoke to Rice in 2022 asking about these “dark patterns”, Rice didn’t seem that interested in elaborating on it. Instead, he told the publication , “There’s a lot of great things about what we’re doing that are newsworthy. You’re welcome to have your fun with this topic, but I’m only interested in talking about real news.”
While we have to admit that these types of anonymous question apps are fun, this complaint filed by the FTC reveals the darker side of it as well. If you’re a parent of a teen, maybe it’s time to start really considering stricter parental controls .
