New research into all 14,000 U.S.-registered likely child-directed apps in the Apple App Store finds 13% are missing contact information in their privacy policy, a requirement of the COPPA Rule
LONDON, April 4, 2023 -- Pixalate, the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, today released the Q1 2023 COPPA Violation Risk Report - Apple App Store. The report is part of Pixalate’s Privacy Disclosure & Compliance Series and features a comprehensive analysis of privacy policies across all 14,000 U.S.-registered likely child-directed mobile apps available for download in the Apple App Store.
For this report, Pixalate’s data science and research team analyzed the privacy policy of every U.S.-registered likely child-directed app in the Apple App Store to determine compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA requires privacy policies to contain the following six disclosures:
“The report reveals a significant compliance gap by U.S. operators of child-directed apps,” said Jalal Nasir, CEO of Pixalate. “As of Q1 2023, over half (54%) of all U.S.-registered child-directed apps in the Apple App Store are not compliant with COPPA, according to Pixalate’s analysis.”
Key Findings:
For Pixalate’s technology to deem an app as likely non-compliant with the COPPA Rule, one or more of following deficiencies must have been identified:
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Rule implementing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires operators to make disclosures in an online privacy policy, including disclosures about how operators collect, use, and disclose children’s personal information.
“The COPPA Rule was designed to put parents in control of what information is collected from their children online,” said Allison Lefrak, SVP Public Policy, Ads Privacy, and COPPA Compliance of Pixalate. “This research shows that there is widespread non-compliance with disclosure obligations in the Rule by U.S.-based operators of child-directed apps in the Apple App store. Our hope is that this report will serve as a wake-up call to Apple, which is especially well positioned to require operators to have COPPA-compliant privacy policies in place and accessible online.”
Download the report here:
Visit Pixalate’s COPPA Compliance Tools Methodology to learn more about the child-directed assessment for mobile apps in the Google Play and Apple App Stores.
About Pixalate
Pixalate is the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising. We work 24/7 to guard your reputation and grow your media value. Pixalate offers the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and CTV for better detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and CTV advertising. www.pixalate.com
Disclaimer
The content of this press release, and the Q1 2023 COPPA Violation Risk Report - Apple App Store (the "Report"), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate’s proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate’s opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to privacy and information security practices and compliance across mobile apps in the time period studied.
