In a world that perpetuates the adage “data is the new oil”, privacy takes a bigger hit with every click and every tap. The ad-tech industry (an amalgamation of advertising and technology) is flooded with data points. Among them, kids are the target of advertising companies and big tech, according to a new study.
An ad fraud protection, privacy and compliance company named Pixalate recently conducted a study on over 1000 kid-focused apps for gaming and educational purposes. The study found that most applications downloaded from the Google Play Store and other app stores send children’s data to advertising companies.
Apps like Angry Birds and Candy Crush are the most popular applications for kids on the Play Store. Other applications include mathematical problems, color, shape recognition, etc. All of these applications store common locations, IP addresses, and other identifying information, and then send them to companies that can predict and analyze their area of interest, forming their foundation for Target. advertising.
The study revolves around the principles of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The act was passed by Congress in 1998 and was intended to protect children’s online privacy.
Studies show that 8 percent of all apps on the Apple App Store and 7 percent of all apps on the Google Play Store are child-directed apps. Among these apps, about 42 percent of apps are more likely to share personal information with advertisers. According to statistics provided by Pixalate’s study, “programmatic advertisers” spend 3.1 times more per app on applications directed to children than on applications directed to a general audience.
According to a report in The Washington Post, Apple and Google denied that children’s privacy is at stake on the App Store. According to Apple, Pixalate had a conflict of interest with their organization, while Google described the research methodology as “too comprehensive”.
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