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.
Waterpark: Slide Race is a game where players direct the character as they slide down to the end of the water slide while avoiding all obstacles. Players will move their character left, right, up, and down the water slide to dodge the barriers until they reach the finish line. You will have the option to browse a wide range of characters. With the tycoon feature players can create an entire park. If players want to finish quickly, they must be skilled and focused.
The visual content and animation feature vibrant, colorful 3D graphics with bubbly characters. The language in the Google app contains potential keywords such as” racing games and waterpark,” which shows that it is directed to a mixed audience. The music is EDM rhythm and popular songs. The game is entertaining and engaging for everyone.
If a player hits an obstacle, you must leave it or start over. To continue the game players have to watch an ad. If a player dies, halts the game, or wants to continue playing you have to watch ads, such as, “TikTok and Whiteout Survival,” directed to a general audience.
Players will play songs and complete achievements to earn stars and coins. Coins are also collected while going down the slide. Those coins and stars unlock buildings so you can revive your park.
There is no age gate verification. It is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play store and 4+ in the iOS store. The app is available to download and use with in-app purchases.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy states, “We do not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13...we collect data in all of our apps…your interactions..identifiers, location, diagnostics, and information from third party sources.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Waterpark: Slide Race
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.
