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 CTV app from the Amazon Fire TV and Roku Channel Stores. 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.
The gameplay screenshots for Cartoon Plus show that the visuals and animation have content that children as well as adults gravitate towards. The characters in the cartoons resemble animals, children, creatures, and other cartoon visuals that children connect with even though the animation is classic. It has vibrant colors and happy characters that can keep children and others glued to the TV. The language in the game states that it is for people of all ages when the app opens. The language in the app section says, ”cartoons … feel like a kid again.”
Some advertisements show between each episode, such as secret deodorant and cancer center. The ads are directed to a general audience.
The app is a part of the Comedy section of Roku and in the app and games section of Fire TV. There is no age gate. The app shows evidence that children do view the app. A review posted on Fire TV in May of 2022 says, “great app to have when the grandchildren visit.” No age was specified.
Privacy
The developer’s privacy policy does not have a COPPA policy or any information that discusses collection of children's personal data.
Screenshots of Cartoon Plus
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.
