According to the findings of a new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study released on Monday, a horde of children-specific smartphone and tablet apps are collecting and sharing the personal data of children, without informing their parents about their practices.

The FTC study - based on tests of 400 popular aimed-at-children smartphone and tablets apps available at the Apple and Google app stores - has revealed that developers of hundreds of children-centric apps either offer misleading privacy policies or conceal their practices in fine print.

About the rather disquieting results of the FTC study, the agency's Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement that an "alarming amount" of personal data of children was being siphoned by mobile device apps for children, with the developers hardly disclosing their data collection policies to the parents.

The FTC said that it plans to initiate "multiple" investigations into mobile app companies which have apparently breached the `deceptive practices' legislation or the 1998-enacted Children's Online Privacy Protection Act that, in the opinion of several public interest groups, badly needs to be updated.

Despite the fact that the FTC refrained from disclosing the names or the number of companies which will be targeted in its investigation, Leibowitz said that Apple's iTunes, Google Play, and other app stores should also be scrutinized along with app developers; and added: "All the companies in the mobile app space, especially the gatekeepers of the app stores, need to do a better job."