On March 7, 2025, New York Attorney (“NY AG”) General Letitia James announced a $650,000 settlement with Saturn Technologies Inc. (“Saturn”), the developer of the Saturn App, a social networking app geared towards high school students and built around customized school calendars.

In its action against Saturn, the NY AG alleged that the company promised at various times between 2018 and August 2023 to verify users’ school email credentials to ensure (1) that the Saturn App did not allow non-students to join and (2) only users from the same school could interact with each other on the app. The NY AG alleged that, in contrast to these promises, Saturn stopped authenticating high school email credentials in 2021, thereby permitting users from different high schools to message each other and allowing “unverified” non-students to join with almost complete access to all Saturn App features. The NY AG alleged that these practices violated New York Executive Law § 63(12), which prohibits engaging in repeated fraudulent acts in the carrying on, conducting, or transaction of business. The NY AG also alleged that Saturn engaged in deceptive trade practices, violating both New York General Business Law § 349 and Section 5 of the FTC Act.

The AG’s investigation also determined that Saturn:

Under the terms of the settlement, Saturn must pay $650,000 in penalties and costs, provide users under the age of 18 with enhanced privacy options (including hiding social media links from non-friends for all new users under the age of 18 by default), document all changes related to user privacy policies and procedures, submit its user interface for NY AG approval, and develop a marketing training program.

The settlement agreement also requires Saturn to:

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