Securing Postgres clusters in privacy-led architecture

Kids Web Services (KWS) enables developers to create, build, and manage COPPA/GDPR-K compliant apps and sites aimed at under-13s. As part of operating the KWS SaaS platform within SuperAwesome, we frequently create new databases for our customers, as well as managing several large Postgres databases on RDS. Data security is a fundamental success criterion in kidtech; and ensuring that data is safely isolated in different databases, properly encrypted, and accessible only by the authorised services with their respective encryption keys is just the start of the journey. Read More

SafeFam certification helps brands work more safely with young YouTubers

YouTube is a challenge for brands. On one hand, despite the fact that YouTube is an over-13 platform, it is one of the best places to reach under-13 audiences at scale. The vast subscriber bases of channels such as Sis VS Bro and Ryan ToysReview have sparked an increase in the number of kid-focused channels on the platform, and sponsored collaborations are beneficial to both the influencers and the brands. Read More

COPPA-compliant programmatic advertising with our KidSafe Filter

The recent enforcement action against Oath’s ad exchange (formerly known as AOL) for breaching COPPA has put a spotlight on programmatic advertising to children. The case highlighted some important issues including the fact that using the ‘COPPA flag’ does not work. In fact, the only guaranteed way for… Read More

TikTok COPPA fine ups the stakes in kids digital privacy

The FTC dramatically upped the ante on COPPA enforcement this week with a record-setting fine of $5.7m against the app formerly known as Musical.ly (now TikTok). The settlement says TikTok breached COPPA by knowingly collecting personal information from children without first obtaining parental consent, as required by the law. Read More

Using stickers to enable privacy for kids on PopJam

PopJam is our COPPA and GDPR-K compliant, safe-social content platform built specifically for kids. It’s used by hundreds of brands, content-owners and YouTubers to interact directly with under-13s as an alternative to platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (which aren’t designed for kids). Read More

How we scale our kid-safe technology using Kubernetes

At SuperAwesome, we build technology that makes the internet safer for kids. Every month, we handle requests from hundreds of millions of kids located all around the world. These kids use their devices moderately in the morning, a little bit during the day, and a lot in the evening. As a result, we had to build highly scalable systems that would respond automatically to that demand. This post explains how horizontal auto-scaling can be achieved using the tools offered by Kubernetes and its ecosystem (and won’t cover other kinds of auto-scalers like the Vertical Pod Autoscaler). Read More

Kids content creators need another online video platform

Last week I talked about our financials in an interview with Dean Takahashi at Venturebeat. In 2018 SuperAwesome hit a revenue run-rate of $64m. This year we’ll take that same measure to almost $100m. Every month our various kidtech products are powering safe, private digital engagements for over 500m kids as they play games, watch videos and engage with their communities online. Read More