Hacked Kids' Apps Solicit Child Porn, Anne Arundel Police Say

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — A voice in some popular children's apps asked an underage user to take naked pictures of themself, police say. The Anne Arundel County Police Department said it learned about the attempt to solicit child pornography on Wednesday.

According to a police report, a local 5-year-old had the apps "Talking Angela," "Talking Angela 2," "Talking Tom 2" and "Talking Ben 2" on their cell phone. Police allege that a voice in the games told the child to take nude pictures of themself and their siblings in the bathtub. The voice on the app threatened to strangle the child if they didn't comply, officers said.

The apps' developers, Slovenian tech company Outfit7, denies the reports.

"The claims have no factual basis and are completely untrue," company spokesperson Daša Rankel told Patch in an email.

Police, however, warn parents to pay attention to their children's digital footprints.

"The Anne Arundel County Police Department is urging parents to constantly monitor their children's online activity and use of social media," police said in a press release. "Please report any suspicious social applications to the police department."

The app titles listed by police are the common names of the games, but the applications have different official designations. Because police reported the unofficial names of the apps, it is unclear what games were the true source of the accusation.

The applications with the titles most similar to those provided are:

• "My Talking Angela"
• "My Talking Tom 2"
• "Talking Tom Jet Ski 2"
• "Talking Tom Cat 2"
• "Talking Ben the Dog"
• "Talking Tom and Ben News"

All six of these games are made by Slovenian tech company Outfit7. The programmers took off in 2010 when they released "Talking Tom Cat," a game involving a cartoon animal that repeats what users say. The app now has more than 350 million downloads. Outfit7 has since released 22 more games and amassed 13 billion downloads.

Patch could not find any other accusations of voices in Outfit7 apps soliciting explicit pictures from children. The company saw a different scandal in 2015, however.

Parents complained that the app "My Talking Tom" displayed a sexual advertisement that included a nude woman. The ad asked, "wanna f---?", a report said.

"For Outfit7, the online safety of our users is of the utmost importance and we go to great lengths to make our games safe," Rankel said. "This is why we never ask for, store, or transmit any kind of confidential, private, or sensitive personal data in-app.

"We also cooperate with global industry experts to make sure that our games uphold strict industry standards and are PRIVO certified as being COPPA compliant.

"With such stringent procedures in place, it is simply impossible for situations like the slanderous allegation in question to occur, not in mobile apps operated by Outfit7."

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