- Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) introduced a version of its Messenger app for young children -- a move that some investors see as a great branding move against younger-skewing competitors like Snap (NYSE:SNAP), but which is raising some consumer privacy issues.
- Messenger Kids, now out in preview, is targeted at the under-13 set that isn't permitted to sign up for Facebook's standard apps or its Instagram service.
- It's a stand-alone app that Facebook says can be controlled via a parent's Facebook account (it won't create an account for the children) and which is the product of engagement with "over a dozen expert advisors in the areas of child development, online safety and children’s media and technology who’ve helped inform our approach to building our first app for kids."
- Meanwhile, online child safety advocate Common Sense Media says “We urge Facebook to make its policies loud and clear – will the product remain ad-free? What data are they collecting and exactly how are they using it? Will parents get ads based on the service? Will they ever erase the group chats that kids are having?"
- Shares in Snap lagged Facebook in performance for much of the morning, though both stocks ended up similarly in the red: FB -2.1%; SNAP -2.1%.
- Now read: Daily Insider Ratings Round Up 10/4/17: SNAP, MRIN, SOR
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