Privacy loopholes expose kids to fast food ads on their devices, study finds

Fast food ads are targeting Canadian children through “privacy loopholes,” according to new research by the University of Ottawa.

The study examined how children’s data and privacy are protected when they are using the apps of 26 Canadian fast food and dine-in restaurants. It found that kids are vulnerable to an “unrelenting” stream of ads being targeted toward them.

Dr. Monique Potvin Kent, associate professor at the University of Ottawa and lead author of the study, says there are concerns about just how much data is collected when kids are exposed to these ads.

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She says fewer than half of the restaurants were clear about what information was being collected.

“What’s most striking about the results is just how little we know about what data these food companies collect on our children and what they plan to do with it,” Potvin Kent told CityNews.

“Data is invaluable to marketers looking to sway customers with targeted ads. Kids are essentially sitting ducks given the amount of time they spend online.”

As well, she says most companies aren’t being transparent about age requirements to use their apps.

“None of the companies that we looked at had compulsory age verification policies,” she said.

Researchers recruited nine-to-12-year-old children to order food through those apps, then parents requested details about data collected on their children from those companies.

Potvin Kent says there needs to be stricter regulations around data collected from children.

Health Canada has previously said it will present new regulations to address food marketing to kids by winter 2024.