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 game from the Google Play and Apple App 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.
Rodeo Stampede allows the user to immerse themselves in the life of a cowboy, using a lasso and riding animals through a desert plain. Each animal you ride has the potential to become a friend which you can add to your inventory - if you can ride them long enough. The riding style is straightforward, steering animals across the screen, and tapping and releasing to jump from one animal to another. The ease of controlling the animals and adding friends to your photo album will appeal to children and motivate them to collect more.
The App Store rates Rodeo Stampede as suitable for 9+, and the Google Play store categorizes it as ‘Everyone’. The app reviews indicate it is routinely being used by children. Some reviews specifically mention their age and some are written by parents whose children enjoy the game.
The game utilizes incentives effectively, with a few different methods of keeping the player engaged. Each new animal you befriend has its photo taken for your photo album. You can also build up your zoo, adding buildings and attractions for customers as well as developing habitats for your animals.
Privacy:
Upon launching the game, the user is asked to provide their age. After this point, you are asked to agree to the Privacy Policy before you can proceed to playing. The developer’s Policy states that some of their apps are aimed at children as well as grown ups, and they have added an age gate to ensure they do not collect data from children.
Screenshots of Rodeo Stampede: Sky Zoo Safari:
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.
