San Diego Sues AppLovin Over Adult Ads in Children's Games

The U.S. County of San Diego has filed a 62-page civil lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court against the ad platform AppLovin, accusing it of bypassing parental controls to display adult dating ads and content related to alcohol, vaping, and cannabis inside games played by children.

The lawsuit alleges that the platform used "device fingerprinting" technology to track minors' devices even when opt-out tracking options were enabled, and that a 2024 software development kit update removed a flag supporting the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

The suit adds that AppLovin replaced its advertising identifier with identifiers zeroed out by iOS and Android systems on children's devices. The lawsuit relies on U.S. privacy laws CCPA, COPPA, CIPA, and the Federal Trade Commission Act, seeking fines of up to $2,500 per violation and refunds for advertisers billed for interactions that were reportedly forced.

The case signals the risks facing app developers and advertisers targeting children, as it ties privacy violations directly to measurement and billing issues while raising potential fine caps for each violation.

What do these terms mean?

Software Development Kit (SDK): A pre-packaged set of tools a developer integrates into their app to add features such as ads or analytics.

COPPA: A U.S. law protecting the privacy of children under 13, requiring parental consent before collecting their data.

Device Fingerprinting: Identifying a device through its technical characteristics when standard tracking identifiers cannot be used.

CCPA: California's privacy law giving consumers the right to know about their data and prevent its sale.