Kidoz Case Study

Kidoz Inc.

Kidoz builds the infrastructure for trusted, privacy-first digital advertising, specifically designed for children and families.

As one of the world’s largest mobile ad networks focused on young audiences, Kidoz operates at the critical intersection of monetization and protection. The Kidoz Privacy Shield technology stack includes a proprietary advertising DSP, Exchange and SSP, contextual targeting engine, and certified publisher SDK that helps developers and brands reach young audiences while upholding the strongest standards of digital privacy.

Kidoz Privacy Shield, as certified by PRIVO, is a full stack privacy-first advertising platform designed to operate without personal identifiers, adhering to the strictest regulatory standards in reaching young audiences.

Operating in the children’s digital advertising space demands the highest responsibility.

The online advertising landscape for children represents one of the most protected demographics under global law. Regulations such as the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe impose strict guardrails on how data is handled. Behavioral targeting, and profiling, are not permitted without verified parental consent.

For Kidoz, this meant building a privacy-first advertising system from the ground up, one that doesn’t just comply with regulations but sets a new industry standard by anticipating risks, embedding privacy by design, and delivering at scale. That system is the Kidoz Privacy Shield.

Complying with regulations such as COPPA and GDPRkids™is not a nice to have, it is a must. They are built to protect the most vulnerable users online.

COPPA restricts the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information (PI) from users 12 or under in the U.S. It mandates verifiable parental consent, transparency, data minimization, and ongoing parental rights to review or delete data.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the data protection and privacy law governing the UK and EU. It includes special provisions for children. While the GDPR establishes 16 as the default age of consent, member states may lower it to a minimum of 13.

Unlike most traditional advertising technologies, which were not built with these standards in mind, Kidoz chose a different path and implemented a purpose-built, privacy-first architecture from the very beginning. This approach was intentionally developed to avoid reliance on traditional tracking and invasive targeting methods that pose compliance and ethical risks to youth in mobile environments.

Kidoz developed a privacy-first digital advertising system that fundamentally redefines how ads are delivered in kid-directed mobile environments by avoiding personal data entirely.

Verified by PRIVO: A privacy-by-design architecture that excludes personal data collection, using contextual signals only to serve ads compliantly.

To ensure full compliance, Kidoz shared the technical designs with PRIVO for assessment. When submitted to PRIVO, an FTC-approved COPPA Safe Harbor and global leader in youth privacy assurance, the platform architecture underwent rigorous review to verify that:

The system does not collect, use, or store personal identifiers.
There is no use of personal information, cookies, persistent IP addresses, or fingerprinting technologies.
No behavioral profiling or automated decision-making is employed.
All ads are delivered using contextual, non-personal signals only.

Kidoz built a solution designed to align with both the letter and spirit of child privacy regulations, avoiding common pitfalls seen in traditional ad technologies. PRIVO found the SDK posed minimal to no privacy risk to children and certified it under both COPPA Safe Harbor and GDPRkids™ Privacy Assured programs.

PRIVO supports Kidoz through continuous oversight across training, implementation, monitoring, and audit to maintain privacy assurance over time.

Long-term trust requires long-term discipline. Kidoz maintains a robust compliance infrastructure that includes:

Version control and transparent change logs.
Privacy training for internal teams and partners.
Regular updates aligned with legal and platform changes.
Rigorous developer onboarding and implementation reviews.

It developed an operating philosophy built for the long haul.

For brands and their agency partners, compliance isn’t just a legal obligation, it is an extension of brand safety and customer trust. Advertising to children without proper safeguards opens the door to significant reputational and financial risk. Regulators have made it clear: violations of COPPA or GDPRkids™ will lead to substantial penalties, public investigations, and lasting damage to consumer goodwill.

A PRIVO-certified solution offers a clear path to risk mitigation. This certification signals to legal teams, agency partners, and the public that a brand takes its responsibilities seriously. When trust is broken, the cost can be far greater than fines, it can erode years of brand equity. PRIVO’s rigorous certification ensures that brands who advertise via the Kidoz platform are protected by industry-leading privacy assurance from the start.

Reaching young audiences is a privilege, but it comes with immense responsibility. Mobile app publishers are under increasing scrutiny from the entire value chain, including regulators, platforms, third-party vendors, and the public. As seen in several high-profile enforcement actions in recent years, publishing environments that allow non-compliant ad traffic can find themselves at the center of investigations and headlines.

Kidoz’s Privacy Shield SDK plays a vital role in helping publishers meet these demands with confidence.

1 - Built-In COPPA Compliance

Kidoz’s SDK is specifically designed to support COPPA compliance from the ground up. By default, it disables behavioral targeting and ensures that no personal data is collected from under-13 users. This reduces the legal risk for publishers and offers peace of mind that compliance isn’t left to chance or manual configuration.

2 - Monetization Without Compromise

For many publishers, balancing privacy compliance with ad revenue has historically felt like a tradeoff. Kidoz’s SDK significantly reduces the tradeoff between compliance and monetization by enabling contextual, kid-safe ad delivery that meets regulatory standards.

3 - Global Reach, Local Compliance

With privacy laws evolving worldwide, publishers need solutions that scale. Kidoz’s SDK is built to meet international standards, including GDPRkids™ in Europe. This ensures that publishers are not only compliant today, but also future-ready as regulations tighten globally.

4 - Frictionless Integration

Time is a precious resource for developers and product teams. Kidoz’s SDK is designed for rapid, low-code integration, minimizing operational burden and reducing the time to compliance. This means teams can focus on building great products, not deciphering privacy laws.

5 - Certified by PRIVO

Certified by PRIVO under COPPA Safe Harbor and awarded the GDPRkids™ Privacy Assured Shield meant the platform underwent a robust assessment process. For publishers, this provides an extra layer of assurance that the SDK isn’t just compliant, it meets the highest standards of child safety and privacy best practices.

Integrating a PRIVO-certified SDK like the Kidoz Privacy Shield isn’t just about compliance, it’s about resilience. It’s about building future-proof systems that can stand up to changing laws, evolving standards, and the high expectations of global audiences.

PRIVO conducted a full review of the Kidoz Privacy Shield, including:

A full Privacy Risk and Compliance Assessment.
Technical audit of the SDK’s integration and ad serving mechanisms.
Review of developer implementation guidelines and contractual requirements.
A data handling assessment was conducted to evaluate any metadata and operational signals used by the SDK, such as app-level context or device type, to ensure these are processed in a way that does not compromise user privacy or fall under personal data classifications.

PRIVO validated that the Kidoz Privacy Shield meets the highest standard for child privacy protection and awarded its certification with confidence.

While the Kidoz Privacy Shield meets current high standards of child privacy, both Kidoz and PRIVO recognize that the regulatory landscape continues to evolve. Future areas of focus include expanding compliance tooling for new jurisdictions, enhancing transparency for parents and publishers, and exploring privacy-preserving ad innovations. This commitment to evolution ensures that certified partners like Kidoz are not only compliant today but also well-positioned for tomorrow’s expectations.

True leadership in youth digital media doesn’t come from cutting corners, it comes from committing to principles. Kidoz has demonstrated a strong commitment to investing in privacy from the outset. This proactive approach supports not just compliance, but a foundation of trust in digital engagement with young audiences.

PRIVO, is pleased to certify Kidoz Privacy Shield as a privacy-first mobile advertising solution that supports safe and effective digital engagement with young audiences. When it comes to children, good enough is never enough.

For more information:

Kidoz
privacy@kidoz.net

PRIVO
Claire Quinn, CPO
cquinn@privo.com

PRIVO Case Study

Kidoz Privacy Shield

Creating a compliant contextual mobile advertising network

The Challenge:

The Regulatory Context:

The Solution:

Ongoing Compliance Practices:

Why It Matters for Brands & Agencies

Why It Matters for App Publishers

PRIVO’s Assessment & Certification

Continuous Improvement and Future Focus

Final Word

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