Sweden’s data protection authority, IMY, launched FantomApp in the country on August 31. The free app is built for children ages 10 to 15. It walks them through the unglamorous work that actually reduces harm on social platforms: tighter account settings, stronger passwords, and blurring faces or details in photos before they go up.
“Social media is a big part of children and young people’s lives. Our hope is that FantomApp makes it easier for young people to build their knowledge of data protection and their rights, and also to make life online safer,” said Malin Blixt, who heads IMY’s guidance, innovation, and technology department.
The app is free on the App Store and Google Play and has a web version.
Why a privacy agency built a kids’ app
FantomApp started at France’s CNIL, designed with French students after a school study found they did not know enough about data protection and wanted something digital and hands-on. CNIL shipped French and English versions in late 2025. EU funding backed the build. IMY translated it and fitted it to Swedish conditions.
The Swedish Internet Foundation’s numbers explain the urgency. Eighty-six percent of children and teens ages 8 to 19 use social media every day. Eighty-five percent of parents worry they cannot protect their kids online. IMY put that second figure in the launch remarks on purpose.
“We know that almost 9 out of 10 parents are worried they cannot protect their children online. Encouraging your child to use FantomApp is a simple way to support them,” Blixt said.
IMY already keeps basic data-protection material for kids, teens, and guardians at imy.se/ung. This fall it will add classroom material, “Your Life Online,” aimed at grades 4 through 7.
What this is, and what it is not
A regulator app will not fix platform design. It will not replace parental controls or school policy. What it can do is put settings, password hygiene, and photo hygiene in a format kids will actually tap through, and give parents a concrete thing to suggest instead of a vague “be careful.”
For schools and youth programs, pair the app with the coming lesson pack rather than treating the download as the whole curriculum. For platforms, this is another official signal that default settings and dark patterns on teen accounts remain a live supervisory topic in Europe, even when the agency’s public move is a tool instead of a fine.
CNIL’s English explainer on FantomApp is the source for the original product. IMY’s Swedish build is the version families in Sweden should install. The contact for press on the Swedish launch is IMY’s press desk.