Welcome to Pixalate’s CTV & Mobile App Manual Reviews According to COPPA, a series containing the detailed factors the Trust & Safety Advisory Board educators used to assess an app’s child-directedness.
The educators manually review thousands of mobile apps available in the Google Play & Apple App Stores as well as connected TV (CTV) apps from the Roku Channel Store and Amazon Fire TV App Store using the COPPA Rule factors shown below & make those results available to the public at ratings.pixalate.com.
This post takes a look at a popular mobile app (1 million+ downloads) from the Google Play Store & Apple App Store. Our reviewer discusses how the subjective factors set forth in the COPPA Rule apply to the app and factor into the reviewer's determination as to whether the app is child-directed or general audience (i.e., it is not targeting children).
The teacher will indicate the factors they relied upon in their assessment using the 10 factors shown below that reflect the 10 child-directed factors in the COPPA Rule.
Car Driving School Simulator is a fun car simulation game where players learn how to drive while respecting traffic regulations and rules. In the gameplay, players must acquire a driver's license by driving around a sequence of laps while figuring out the rules of speed limits, parking, weather conditions, traffic lights, and signals. Once players get their license, they start driving in real traffic in the city. The visual content and animation have vibrant 3D realistic detailed graphics such as the vehicle's dashboard and weather. The game is engaging and comes with a thorough tutorial to introduce the player to the controls and rules of driving. The sound effects are realistic and amplify the experience of noises when driving. The game effectively merges learning and fun through realistic driving situations.
There is no age gate. It is rated T for Teens in the Google Play store and 12+ in the iOS store. The app is available to download and use with in-app purchases. A review on the Google Play Store in November 2019 states, “My kids and I play that together almost entirely.” The review did not specify age.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy states, “We are aware of the obligation imposed on us to especially protect personal data obtained from children...Therefore, we shall not collect data from children under 16 years of age without a legal guardian’s prior consent.” The policy also states, “When using our Services, we may process the following information about you…your device ID…your username…your email address…your name…your preferences…IP address…Information about you from Trusted Partners.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Car Driving School Simulator
Pixalate’s Trust and Safety Advisory Board was created to bring in individuals with experience using child-directed apps in the classroom to review and assess which apps are child-directed. This manual review process serves to quality check Pixalate’s automated review process. See our full methodology for more information.
Disclaimer
This blog post published by Pixalate is available for informational purposes only and is not considered legal advice. By viewing this blog post, the reader understands and agrees that there is no attorney-client relationship between the reader and the blog publisher. The blog should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in the applicable jurisdiction(s), and readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning any specific situation. The content of this blog post reflects Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and this blog post is not intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but instead, to report findings pertaining to mobile and Connected TV (CTV) apps.
