Jalal Nasir, CEO of Pixalate, this week shared his views with NBC Arizona’s 12News about Pixalate’s research on the state of children’s privacy online. Watch the interview to learn more about children’s privacy abuse:
Highlights from the NBC interview:
- Over 66% of the most popular apps likely used by children collect their personal data and share it with the ad industry, according to Pixalate’s data
- For Android apps, this number is even higher (79%)
- This information could contain their exact or general location, IP address, and device identifier
- According to the Washington Post, advertisers find a way to go around the COPPA Rule and offer content to children while still collecting their data
- Many apps don’t ask users about their age, and they can claim they don’t know about children using them
- “That’s why it’s so alarming,” emphasized Pixalate CEO Jalal Nasir
- Advertisers can use “geofencing” and serve ads only to users who visit specific locations, such as schools or ice cream shops, according to Dr. Jen Golbeck from Maryland University.
Read our Children’s Privacy Report to find more insights about children’s privacy in mobile apps.