FTC Orders Weight Watchers to Delete AI Models Trained on Children's Data from Kurbo App

In September 2022, the Federal Trade Commission issued a landmark enforcement action against WW International (Weight Watchers) for violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) through its Kurbo by WW app. The Kurbo app, which Weight Watchers acquired in 2018, was marketed as a weight management platform for children and teens, using AI-powered features to provide personalized diet and exercise recommendations. The FTC investigation revealed that from 2018 onwards, Weight Watchers collected personal information from children under 13 through the Kurbo app without obtaining the verifiable parental consent required under COPPA. This data included children's weights, photos of their meals, and other sensitive health information that was then used to train the company's AI algorithms and machine learning models for generating personalized weight loss recommendations. The commission found that Weight Watchers knew it was collecting data from children, as the app was specifically designed for users as young as 8 years old and actively marketed to children. Despite this knowledge, the company failed to implement proper age verification systems or obtain meaningful parental consent before collecting and processing children's personal information. In an unprecedented enforcement action, the FTC not only imposed a $1.5 million civil penalty but also ordered Weight Watchers to delete all AI models, algorithms, and data derived from the illegally collected children's information. This 'algorithmic disgorgement' remedy marked the first time a U.S. regulator required the destruction of AI systems built with unlawfully obtained data, establishing a significant precedent for AI accountability and children's privacy protection in the digital age.