5 things we learned while refining Verifiable Parental Consent for kids apps

Apps and games that need to collect personally identifiable information (PII) from kids require the parents to give their consent. Given the sensitive nature of this information, we take extra measures to make sure that the parent of the child is really the one giving the consent. Under COPPA and GDPR-K, one of the ways to do so is by performing a credit card transaction for a small charge ($1). Here are some of the interesting things we’ve learned while iterating on our parental consent flows: Read More

What every game developer needs to know about getting parental permissions right

If you’re building a game or app for kids (under-13 in the US or under-16 in Europe), you need to consider how you’re going to manage age gates and parental permissions. Both are essential to ensure compliance with data privacy laws (COPPA and GDPR-K), but both are complex user flows and mismanaging them can create barriers to engagement for your easily-distracted young audiences. Here’s what you need to remember: Read More

5 things game developers need to know about COPPA and GDPR-K

With 170,000 kids going online for the first time every day, developers have to consider them a likely audience for their games, even if they are not deliberately child-directed. Data privacy laws for children such as COPPA (US) and GDPR-K (EU) are now well known, but the lack of clear guidance on how to apply them can make publishing such games difficult and scary for developers. Here are five things to keep in mind if you’re developing apps or sites for a children’s audience OR which might be accessed by children: Read More

China rolls out data privacy law for children

In the last twelve months children’s data privacy law has expanded from what was just the US (COPPA) to covering all of Europe (under GDPR-K). But it’s not stopping there. Against many expectations, China has also introduced protection for children online. Recently China published the Personal Information Security Specification which, together with the country’s new 2016 Cyber Security Law, establishes specific digital data privacy protections for children under the age of 14. Read More

Mattel and SuperAwesome in conversation: Digital privacy and the challenges of technology for kids

With so much of our education and entertainment tied to technology and the internet in 2018, how can we ensure that children and their privacy are protected? At Collision Conference in New Orleans, SuperAwesome CEO Dylan Collins sat down with Mattel CTO Sven Gerjets to tackle the difficult questions, including how the toy industry can protect kids privacy in the age of connected toys, and how technology is affecting the way that children play. Read More

The future of tech and toys: SuperAwesome CEO Dylan Collins and Mattel CTO Sven Gerjets at Collision Conference

Mattel's CTO Sven Gerjets joined our CEO Dylan Collins onstage at Collision Conference in New Orleans for a comprehensive discussion on the future of tech and toys in the kids market. Speaking with Leah Hunter of Fast Company, they cover the necessity for creating responsible digital experiences for kids, what a zero-data internet looks like in practice, and how ensuring that products are private by design can ensure that kids grow up in a safe environment. Read More