Earlier this year the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), along with 28 other data protection regulators from around the world,
announced an investigation into how websites and apps - squarely aimed at children - were collecting and sharing personal information.
The results are now in.
In an announcement yesterday, the ICO
explained how the overall picture painted by the international investigation was not a pretty one.
The collection of watchdogs, collectively known as the
Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN), said 41% of the 1494 apps and websites it examined raised concerns over how data was being collected and shared with third parties.
The privacy sweep found many apps and websites were playing fast and loose with personal information - with just over 2 in 3 collecting childrens' names and email addresses.
The ICO and its partners also discovered how only 31% of sites and apps were taking proactive measures to limit data collection from children.
