FTC alleges messaging app violated child privacy law, duped users into subscriptions

The FTC announced a DOJ civil complaint against Iconic Hearts Holdings (Sendit) alleging illegal collection of children’s personal information without parental consent and deceptive subscription tactics using fake messages and undisclosed terms. The company purportedly targeted under-13 users, with 116,000 self-reporting their age in 2022, and pushed a “Diamond Membership” costing up to $9.99/week while failing to reveal message senders’ identities as promised, violating COPPA, the FTC Act, and ROSCA.