Pixalate’s Q3 2022 Missing Privacy Policy Report for Google and Apple Mobile App Stores: Over 608k Apps at Risk of Violating App Stores’ Guidelines and Privacy Laws

Pixalate, the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, released the Q3 2022 Missing Privacy Policy Report: Mobile Apps for apps available for download across the Apple App Store and Google Play Stores.

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Pixalate examined 5.2MN+ downloadable apps across the Apple and Google mobile app stores and found that 12% – over 608,000 – have no detected privacy policy, in violation of both the Apple and Google Play stores’ app privacy guidelines as well as laws that mandate publishing a privacy policy, including CalOPPA, GDPR, CCPA, and COPPA.

Although this number is down compared to Q2 2022 (when there were 688,000+ apps with no detected privacy policy), hundreds of thousands of apps appear to remain in direct policy violation, leaving millions of users vulnerable to privacy exploits and exposing advertisers to compliance violations.

• 608k+ undetected privacy policy apps – 12% of all apps – across Google (484k+), Apple app stores (123k+) in Q3 2022
• 98%+ of Apple App Store apps with no detected privacy policy are abandoned (2+ years since last update) vs. 52% on Google in Q3 2022
• ~80% of apps with no detected privacy policy privacy and programmatic ads share user location data with advertisers and/or data brokers
• 45k+apps with no detected privacy policy are likely child-directed, according to Pixalate