Pixalate, the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, released the industry’s first COPPA compliance toolkit for 5MM+ mobile apps across the Apple and Google app stores. Pixalate’s hybrid AI-based technology automates the child-directed assessment of all of the apps available in the Apple App and Google Play stores and is the first publicly available index designed to aid advertisers, regulators, parents, researchers and the ad tech community in guarding children’s online privacy and remaining COPPA compliant.
Pixalate has also formed a Trust and Safety Advisory Board, helmed by a former FTC enforcer, Allison Lefrak, composed of qualified educators, to review and assess whether apps are child-directed through the lens of the COPPA Rule on an ongoing basis.
“Google and Apple do not require all app developers to identify whether they are child-directed as a condition of being featured in their app stores. While they require content ratings for all apps, these ratings do not tell the public whether the app is targeting children under 13 as a portion of the audience. This is critical information, not only for parents, but for ad tech companies seeking to comply with COPPA,” said Pixalate’s SVP of Public Policy, Ads Privacy and COPPA Compliance, Allison Lefrak. “Pixalate has stepped in to solve this complex problem with its automated assessment of the likely target audience of apps.”
Pixalate is committed to helping ad tech understand hidden children’s privacy compliance risks across mobile apps. Opening up this data reveals the extent of likely child-directed inventory across the mobile app ecosystem – the first public source to assist children’s privacy advocates, regulators, and the advertising industry.
“The FTC’s recent settlement with an ad exchange has underscored the need for ad techs companies to take a hard look at their COPPA compliance obligations,” said Jalal Nasir, CEO of Pixalate. “The ad industry can now search for child-directed apps for free to assess their potential exposure to COPPA compliance risk in the mobile ad supply chain.”
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Pixalate’s free COPPA Audience Assessment reveals the likely target audience of 5MM+ Apple and Google Play store apps based on Pixalate’s Methodology developed in collaboration with a former FTC regulator. In Q1 2022, Pixalate found:
Nearly 400k mobile apps are likely child-directed
15% of child-directed apps do not have a detectable privacy policy according to Pixalate, a potential violation of COPPA
Over 25k child-directed apps were found to share personal information for advertising purposes (in the bid-stream)
42% – over 160k child-directed apps – request permission to access sensitive device capabilities