Pixalate’s Q3 2025 Report Uncovers 1,248 APAC-Registered Mobile Apps Across Apple App & Google Play Stores Violating COPPA, Impacting 117 Million Child-App Users in USA

According to new research from Pixalate, 962 apps failed to provide the requisite ‘children’s privacy’ disclosure as specified under COPPA; Out of 1,003 APAC-registered, ad-enabled, child-directed mobile apps analyzed, 1,001 (99%) failed to obtain a Verifiable Parent Consent (VPC)

LONDON, Dec. 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate today released the Q3 2025 State of Children’s Privacy Risk Report for Asia-Pacific (APAC) Mobile Apps. The analysis reveals significant privacy gaps in mobile apps available for download on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, likely violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by unlawfully collecting, using, and sharing children’s personal information in the advertising bid stream.

Pixalate’s data science and legal teams evaluated 23,097 mobile apps classified as likely child-directed pursuant to Pixalate’s COPPA Methodology. From this number, 7,524 child-directed apps were determined to be registered in the APAC region.

Key Findings Raise Concerns About Children’s Data Privacy

• Privacy Policy Deficiencies. 962 (77%) of 1,248 covered apps that are likely violating COPPA failed to provide adequate disclosures regarding their collection, processing, or use of children’s personal information.
• No Privacy Policies. 78 APAC-registered likely child-directed apps did not have a detectable privacy policy.
  • Of 78 APAC apps without a privacy policy, 72 (92%) unlawfully transmitted users’ IP Addresses in the advertising bid stream.
• Data Transmission Practices. 1,198 (96%) of COPPA-violating APAC apps shared Device IDs of U.S.-based app users in the advertising bid stream.
  
• Platform Distribution. 1,248 of likely child-directed APAC-registered apps that are violating COPPA across the Google Play and Apple App Stores have collectively accumulated over 117 million Lifetime App Users-majority of which are likely children.
• Advertising Network Integrations. Google Ad Exchange appeared in the app-ads.txt files of 558 (45%) covered apps identified as likely non-compliant under COPPA.

Understanding COPPA and Children’s Personal Information

The COPPA Rule regulates the online collection of personal information from children under 13 years old. Under COPPA guidelines, personal information encompasses individually identifiable data collected online, including:

• Location
• Home or other physical address
• Contact information and security numbers
• Persistent identifiers such as IP addresses and device identifiers
• Photographs, videos, or audio recordings containing a child’s voice or image

Top 5 APAC-Registered Likely Non-Compliant Mobile Apps under COPPA - Google Play Store

Top 5 APAC-Registered Likely Non-Compliant Mobile Apps under COPPA - Apple App Store 

Methodology
Pixalate’s data science and legal teams analyzed 23,097 mobile apps using the following criteria:

1. Platform Availability. Apps downloadable from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store during Q3 2025
2. Classification. Apps identified as likely child-directed, determined by Pixalate’s COPPA Methodology
3. Advertising Integration. Apps with programmatic advertising traffic impressions targeted towards consumers within the Asia Pacific region. Apps with ads may also contain app-ads.txt files, as detected by Pixalate’s technology or one of Pixalate’s third-party licensors
4. Policy Analysis. Privacy policies were crawled during Q3 2025

The complete methodology and detailed findings are available in the full report, which is available for download here.

About Pixalate

Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com

Disclaimer

The content of this press release, and the Q3 2025 State of Children’s Privacy on Mobile Apps Report: APAC (the ‘report’) - including all content set forth herein, reflect Pixalate’s opinions with respect to the factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry, inclusive of advertisers, advertising technology companies, developers of mobile applications, professional advisors, non-governmental entities, and regulators. Pixalate is sharing this report’s data–and opinions relating thereto–not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person, or app, but, instead, to report opinions and suggest trends pertaining certain apps available for download via the Apple App Store & Google Play Store during the time period studied. 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.

It is important to note that the mere fact that an app appears to be directed to children or is deemed likely child-directed (e.g., data subjects under 13 years of age, as defined by COPPA), or appears not to obtain VPC (e.g. as per the COPPA Rule) does not mean that any such app, or its operator, is failing to comply with COPPA.

Further, with respect to apps that appear to be directed to children and have characteristics that, in Pixalate’s opinion, may trigger related privacy obligations and/or risk, such assertions reflect Pixalate’s opinions (i.e., they are neither facts nor guarantees); and, although Pixalate’s methodologies used to render such opinions are derived from automated processing, which at times is coupled with human intervention, no assurances can be – or are – given by Pixalate with respect to the accuracy of any such opinions.

Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to render opinions and report trends pertaining to apps available for download via the official Apple App Store and Google Play Store pertaining to the time period studied.

Apple and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc.

Google, Google Ad Exchange, the brand “Google Play,” its logos, and other Google logos are trademarks of Google LLC.


Nina Talcott
Ntalcott@pixalate.com

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