Pixalate Study Finds 97% of Top Child-directed Google Apps Analyzed Risk COPPA Violation for Lack of Parental Consent

News provided by

Mar 28, 2023, 08:00 ET

82% of the reported Likely Child-Directed Google Apps That Allow Children Users Transmit IP Address In the Ad Bid Stream And Do Not Seek Parental Consent

LONDON, March 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixalate, the global market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, today released the Children's Online Privacy Risk Report: Age Screening & Parental Consent On Mobile Apps to examine the state of children's online privacy among Google and Apple apps available for download in Q1 2023.

Pixalate's Trust & Safety Advisory Board conducted a manual review of 1,000 mobile apps to analyze whether the apps screen for age, allow children under 13, and seek verified parental consent (VPC). Pixalate also analyzed the apps' data permission and transmission practices to identify potential violations of the COPPA Rule.

Key Findings:

97% of reviewed likely child-directed Google apps that did not obtain parental consent still shared location data in the ad bidstream
- 63% of reviewed likely child-directed Apple apps that did not obtain parental consent still shared location data in the ad bidstream
55% of Apple likely child-directed apps that allow children transmit location data in the ad bid stream
66% of the likely child-directed mobile apps do not screen for age
59% of the likely child-directed apps with no age screen request access to personal information via permission(s)
65% of the analyzed likely child-directed apps that allow children to access the app do not seek parental consent

Read the full Q1 2023 Children's Online Privacy Risk Report: Age Screening & Parental Consent On Mobile Apps here.

Age screening is a mechanism that operators of mobile apps use to determine the age of users. While operators of child-directed apps are not required to screen users for age under COPPA, they must obtain verifiable parental consent (VPC) before collecting personal information from a child, unless the collection falls into one of the Rule's exceptions. Pixalate's study does not establish that there was a COPPA violation but the reported app characteristics may pose a risk to children's online privacy.

Child-Directed Mobile Apps:

Pixalate uses automated processing derived from a combination of signals to determine if an app is likely to be child-directed, including the app's category, sub-category, content rating, and contextual signals (specifically, child-related keywords in app's title or the app's description). Pixalate also leverages manual app review by educators on Pixalate's Trust & Safety Advisory Board, who make assessments of apps based on the child-directed factors outlined in the COPPA Rule. See Pixalate's COPPA methodology for more information.

About Pixalate

Pixalate is the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising. We work 24/7 to guard your reputation and grow your media value. Pixalate offers the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and CTV for better detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and CTV advertising. www.pixalate.com

Disclaimer

The content of this press release, and the "Q1 2023 Children's Online Privacy Risk Report: Age Screening & Parental Consent On Mobile Apps" (the "Report"), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate's proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to privacy and information security practices and compliance across mobile apps in the time period studied.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Pixalate