A mum has blasted a Santa Claus app targeted at children that asks where the child is and what they look like.
The ‘Santa Call & Text You’ app says it allows users to receive a phone call or text message from ‘Santa’.
The app's description claims it enables parents to "encourage good behaviour" from their children and doesn't involve anything live.
But furious parents have called out the app on Facebook after saying their youngsters were asked for personal information.
Screenshots of conversations show children asked to describe what clothing they are wearing and physical characteristics like their eye colour.
In one conversation 'Santa' asked if the child liked talking to him, then quickly followed up with 'what do you look like?'.
According to a screenshot posted on Facebook, 'Santa' asked another child to compare a good girl to a bad school girl. 'Santa' then asked what school the child attends.
In another, the app asks if the person was still at their location.
Some Google Play apps automatically draw upon a device's stored location settings, meaning a person’s location will be revealed without asking permission.
Writing on Facebook, the woman said the app asked if she remained in her location, but when she downloaded it she wasn’t asked to accept any permission notices.
During the conversation, 'Santa' asked the woman - posing as her child - if she was still “located in your location”, but when she queried why this information is necessary, the app says “I want to find out more about you”.
Later, when asked why the app was asking ‘weird questions’, it said its purpose was to gather as much new knowledge as possible.
A similar complaint was made on Apple’s Store Preview where customers leave reviews of the product.
Writing under the name Felipe, the man discouraged people from downloading the app after he had a “creepy” chat with 'Santa'.
Felipe said he tried to tease the app by asking if he kidnaps children. The app told him he does during his free time.
Felipe - who rated the app one star - wrote: “I said are you a good boy and he said he was a girl he was so weird then he asked how old I am once and then I ask if he was a girl. He said he’s gender was male and then it got weirder and creepy
“This is the really creepy part I ask him if he kidnaps kids and he said yes I try to kidnap kids on my free time or something.
“I ask him why does he kidnap kids he said do I have to tell you everything and then he said he didn’t.”
The app has been rated 4.4 stars on Apple and downloaded just over 17,000 times.
The odd series of conversations follows a complaint made in July, when mum Ashley Adams from North Carolina said the app sent her eight-year-old daughter ‘inappropriate messages’.
The family notified the police and contacted Apple about the issue but the app was still available to download from the Store.
At the time of writing the app continues to be available to download from Apple.
Ms Adams said the app asked her daughter what she was wearing.
Speaking to Fox & Friends in July, Ms Adams said: “I was just in complete shock. It made me sick to my stomach.”
The app's version history says it was last updated on December 3 with "bug fixes and improvements".
The Mirror has contacted Apple and Google for comment.
The app's developer has not commented on the claims.
