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. 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.
Cattle Farm House Construction is an addictive simulator game where players design and construct farmland using devices to fabricate the farmhouse. Players are able to embellish their farmhouse and cattle house utilizing a variety of paints, wood furnishings, and other adornments. The gameplay lets players also move material they have cultivated to give their cattle farm a strong base. When each level is completed the farmer advances forward to the next task. The subject matter in the “About this app,” says, “this construction simulator game for all ages.” The visual content and animation have a colorful farm aesthetic with a simple character simulation design that is child-directed with a mixed audience. Overall, the app is great for interactive activities and goal-oriented activities.
The app has advertisements that show up right after download, such as, “BET+.” There are banner and pop-up advertisements, such as, “TEMU and Salon 5 Nails. In between game loading to the next level players will see, “ Monopoly Go and Butchers Ranch.” These advertisements are directed to a general audience.
The app is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play store. There is no age gate but there are in-app purchases.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy states, ”I do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age…these services do not address anyone under 13.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Cattle Farm House Construction
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.
