News Summary: Industry braces for phone apps rules

NEW REGULATIONS: The Federal Trade Commission is this week expected to approve stricter online child privacy rules, updating a 1998 law that prohibits the collection of personal information from preteens. The original law came before the era of cellphone and tablet apps that can siphon up location information and other personal data valuable to advertisers.

INDUSTRY COMPLAINTS: Software developers say the new rules would stifle creativity and saddle small businesses with higher costs to comply with the regulations, and may lead to less online content for kids.

COSTS: The FTC has estimated that the industry's costs for legal and technical fees to meet the new requirements will be $2.7 million.