© BBB National Programs, 2020. All Rights Reserved.

The data flows that power today’s digital environment move across generations and cultures, 

devices and software, businesses and households. Many of the currents that feed into this 

environment are generated by the mobile app ecosystem, where users of all backgrounds 

engage with their favorite games, social media, tools, and entertainment sources.

Teenagers are major participants in this ecosystem. And like everyone else interacting with 

today’s connected world, teenagers are faced with questions and tradeoffs when it comes to 

the use of mobile apps and privacy. 

In policy discussions about privacy today, however, much of the dialogue focuses on the 

privacy rights of citizens generally—sometimes through the vehicle of general privacy 

regulation, and sometimes through protections for specific kinds of data, such as health data 

or location data. Also common are discussions about prioritizing the privacy interests of 

young children and whether existing legal frameworks, such as the Children’s Online Privacy 

Protection Act1 (COPPA), are adequate and sustainable in today’s digital world.

Risky 

Business

The Current State of Teen Privacy in the Android App Marketplace

 
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Table of Contents

Key Findings 4

Teen apps have a greater attack surface for privacy risks. 4

Trackers observed most frequently appeared to be 

controlled by Facebook and Google. 4

Teen users might be targeted based on their 

in-app purchase spending behavior. 5

Why it Matters 5

Methodology 6

General Dataset 6

Teen Dataset 7

“Teen Directedness” 7

Genre of Teen Apps 8

Readability of Teen Apps 8

Word Frequencies, Teen Dataset 9

Monetization: Advertising vs. In-App Purchases 11

Identifying Third-Party Data Trackers 12

Analyzing App Permissions Requests 15

Dangerous Permissions Requests 16

Looking at the Global App Publisher Landscape 22

Conclusion 25
The unique privacy interests of teenagers, a significant part of the U.S. 

population,2 are rarely included in these privacy policy dialogues. This white 

paper aims to address this shortcoming. 

83%

of U.S. mobile 

device owners aged 

13 to 17 download an 

app at least once a 

month3

81%

of teens use social 

media with 70% 

saying they use it 

multiple times a day, 

up from 34% in 20124

72%

of teens believe 

that tech companies 

manipulate users 

to spend more time 

on devices5

89%

of teens have their 

own smartphone, 

more than doubling 

since 20126

To protect teen privacy interests, some lawmakers are proposing to raise the protected age range 

under COPPA to include teens7 This year alone, we have seen the PROTECT Kids Act, the Kids 

PRIVACY Act, and the KIDS Act each applying certain concepts from COPPA to children under the 

ages of 16 or 17. 

The ideas are worthy, but the specifics are lacking. The unique teen audience is strikingly different 

than COPPA’s current targeted age range of under 13. Defining a website, app, or platform as a 

“teen space” is much more complex than identifying child-directed content. Teens occupy an 

intermediate space between childhood and adulthood, which demands a nuanced approach to 

setting new standards, not merely changing the age limit under COPPA. 

Research shows that a teen’s drive for greater engagement on digital media platforms exposes 

them to privacy risks.8 There is a critical need to ensure that companies engaging teens in an 

online environment collect data in a responsible manner, understand the unique teen audience, 

and have the tools and support necessary to sustain responsible data collection in an evolving 

regulatory atmosphere.

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TeenAge Privacy Program

The Missing Link in 

Policy Discussions: Teens
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Key Findings

To assess the multiple privacy dimensions of more than 53,000 apps available in the 

Google Play store, the apps were divided into two categories: apps directed to a general 

audience, and a subset of those that were directed to teens.

The data indicate that Android-based apps likely directed to teens differ substantively 

from general audience apps where information privacy is concerned.

Teen apps have a greater attack surface for privacy risks.

The teen dataset requested more permissions of its users and included more in-app 

purchase options than apps in the general dataset. And in 9% of apps in the teen dataset 

we were unable to identify a home country for the app publisher. 

11

median permissions 

requested per app

6

median “dangerous” 

permissions requested 

per app

10

median trackers 

integrated into 

each app

Trackers observed most frequently appeared to be controlled by Facebook and Google.

The Android mobile app ecosystem is complex, populated by a variety of publishers that 

often rely on third-party software to monetize their apps through advertising or in-app 

purchases.

Apps function alongside powerful sensor, storage, and tracking technologies engineered 

into smartphones. Google, the owner of the Android platform and a powerful advertising 

network, and Facebook, known for its social media networks, dominate this market through 

myriad tracking and ad products. Such major players are woven together with innumerable 

advertising technology companies to create an interlocking mesh of data exchange that 

funds an enormous swath of internet services.

Many consumers, including teens, engage with their favorite apps every day 

unaware of the hidden ecosystem that drives them.
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Teen users might be targeted based on their in-app purchase spending behavior.

The teen dataset included more ad-supported apps than the general dataset.

82%

of teen-directed apps

were supported by ads, compared to

51%

of general apps

Games for teens were more likely to have in-app purchases than game apps in the general 

dataset.

General Dataset

4:1

Teen Dataset, almost

13:1

Why it Matters

Apps targeted to teenage users are more likely to engage in ad serving, include more 

third-party trackers, ask for more permissions, and offer more in-app purchases.

App developers, advertisers, and third-party technology companies routinely focus more 

heavily on monetizing teenage users, through advertisements and in-app purchases, as 

compared to general audience users. In addition, the teen dataset included more third-party 

trackers and requested more permissions to data, including those defined as “dangerous” 

permissions. While many app developers appear to abide by the Google Play Developer 

policies about privacy, our study suggests there are important questions about whether they 

collect or authorize the collection of excessive amounts of data. 

ratio of game apps with in-app 

purchases to those without

ratio of game apps with in-app 

purchases to those without
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And because Google and Facebook own the majority of trackers in teen apps, this report 

demonstrates how platforms such as these can combine data, collected across a variety 

of apps, to create a full profile of single users – what they look like, what they sound like, 

where they go, who their friends and family are, where they work and live, their daily habits 

and interests, and even the contents of their phone.

In a world where teens are restricted from driving, voting, and making other decisions 

regarding their autonomy, why does the assumption exist that they can properly manage 

their own data privacy?

In today’s landscape, should teens be required to understand and be mindful of the 

inherent tradeoffs that exist between the data collection and advertising practices in the 

mobile apps they use and their own personal privacy?

Although the proposed laws that expand the scope of COPPA to include some teenagers 

are well-intentioned, we should not treat teens the same way we treat children, nor should 

we treat them as fully developed adults.

Given our findings and the potential rigidity of future legislative solutions, it is incumbent on 

industry now to exercise responsibility and show accountability by developing appropriate 

standards that take into account teens’ habits, preferences, and developmental state. 

This study is brought to you by BBB National Programs’ TeenAge Privacy Program (TAPP), 

a community of companies that understand the digital landscape and the complications of 

standards implementation that will develop the core principles and standards necessary for 

teen privacy. 

 

Methodology

This study analyzes privacy issues surrounding the Android mobile app ecosystem, with a 

focus on mobile apps directed to teenagers.9 In conducting this study, we aimed to survey 

the landscape of teen mobile apps for privacy risks and assess how teen data is harvested 

by the products they use.

TAPP’s dataset for this paper is based on a general dataset and a teen dataset.

General Dataset

To create this dataset, we scraped data from the top 200 apps for each genre10 in the 

Google Play Store, yielding an initial set of 11,338 apps with accompanying data.11 We then 

expanded this dataset to include all apps marked by Google Play as similar12 to the initial 

set of 11,338 apps, yielding a total of 53,686 apps, and scraped app data from the Google 

Play Store to include the entire expanded dataset13 This scraped data included a list of 

permissions requested, indicators as to monetization through advertising and in-app 

purchases, installation counts, links to privacy policies, and in some cases the location of 

the app publisher.
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Teen Dataset

To create this dataset, we identified popular apps (apps which had been installed 20 million 

or more times) with characteristics likely directed at teenagers. This process yielded a list 

of 1,322 apps.

To further narrow this sample, we built a multi-factor framework for assessing whether 

an app was reasonably classified as directed at teens. To construct this framework, 

we adapted industry standards for marketing to teens, motion picture and software 

rating guidelines, FTC parameters for assessing the child-directed nature of content for 

compliance with COPPA, and general knowledge about popular teen products in 2020.14

Using this framework as a reference, we manually narrowed our sample to 1,156 teendirected apps. After identifying these apps, we downloaded the Android application 

package (APK)15 of each.16 Accounting for minor adjustments and download failures, the 

final list for the teen dataset consisted of 1,144 apps with accompanying APKs. 

For each of these datasets, where possible, we assessed multiple privacy dimensions of 

each app.

• The presence and number of permissions each app requested

• The number of trackers integrated into each app

• The readability of each app’s description in the app store

• The presence of each app’s privacy policy

• Whether each app monetizes through advertising or in-app purchases

“Teen Directedness”

In addition, we measured the teen dataset and compared it with the general dataset to 

confirm that our filtering processes produced a list of teen-focused apps. We looked at 

three points of comparison:

1. Does the genre breakdown change between teen and general datasets? We expected, 

for example, to see fewer utility apps, business apps, etc. in the teen dataset.

2. Using an appropriate readability scoring formula, is the reading level of the app 

descriptions on the Google Play Store lower for apps from the teen dataset than for the 

general dataset? We expect the descriptions of apps targeted at a general audience to 

score at a higher reading level than the descriptions of apps targeted at teens.

3. Which words predominate in the descriptions? We expected teen-directed apps to use 

different words in their descriptions as compared with general apps, and we further 

expected the most common words to be easily associable with teens, their behavior, or 

their interests.
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Genre of Teen Apps

TAPP’s teen dataset included popular apps known to include teen users, (e.g., TikTok, 

Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat), gaming, social media, entertainment, messaging, and 

file sharing. Notably, gaming apps17 consisted of 55.8% of our teen dataset but only 

30.1% of our general dataset.

Table 1. 

Genre Breakdown, Top 10, General Dataset

GENRE Number 

of apps

Tools 3558

Education 3188

Health & Fitness 2609

Puzzle Games 2306

Productivity 2130

Lifestyle 1936

Finance 1872

Business 1805

Music & Audio 1712

Entertainment 1677

Table 2. 

Genre Breakdown, Top 10, Teen Dataset

GENRE Number 

of apps

Action Games 120

Casual Games 88

Photography 79

Video Players & Editors 70

Arcade Games 64

Tools 59

Puzzle Games 57

Sports Games 56

Music & Audio 55

Entertainment 53

Readability of Teen Apps

When the app’s descriptions were assessed against the Dale-Chall readability formula,18 

which relies on 3000 “familiar words” that are known by 80% of children in the 5th 

grade, we observed that the average app description for the teen dataset scored 

approximately 9, while the average app in the general dataset scored 9.59.
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adjusted Score = Raw Score + 3.6365 (if difficult words more than 5%)

Score Notes

4.9 or lower easily understood by an average 4th-grade student or lower

5.0–5.9 easily understood by an average 5th or 6th-grade student

6.0–6.9 easily understood by an average 7th or 8th-grade student

7.0–7.9 easily understood by an average 9th or 10th-grade student

8.0–8.9 easily understood by an average 11th or 12th-grade student

9.0–9.9 easily understood by an average 13th to 15th-grade (college) student

Finance 1872

Business 1805

Music & Audio 1712

Entertainment 1677

Table 3: 

Reading Level for Dataset App Descriptions

Dataset Dale-Chall Score

Teen dataset 9.03

General dataset 9.58

General dataset 

minus teen 

dataset

9.59

7.0–7.9 easily understood by an average 9th or 10th-grade student

8.0–8.9 easily understood by an average 11th or 12th-grade student

Word Frequencies, Teen Dataset

We also analyzed word frequency counts in the summaries and descriptions scraped from 

the Google Play Store for both the teen dataset and the general dataset (with the apps 

in the teen dataset removed from the general dataset for this comparison), removing 

punctuation and connective words (e.g., “and,” “the,” “his,” etc.), and consolidating 

word forms (e.g., “game” includes “gaming,” “games,” “gamer,” etc.). By comparing the 

frequently occurring words in each dataset, we were able to determine whether the teen 

dataset predominantly included words directed to teens, or words indicative of their 

behavior or interests, relative to the general dataset.

The results confirmed the hypothesis that the teen dataset included words associated with 

teens and their interests. The following tables illustrate this, showing the most common 30 

words in each dataset. While many words common to popular apps (such as “game”) are 

highly ranked in both datasets, in the teen dataset words such as “challenge,” “music,” and 

“battle” all rank among the most commonly occurring words but are not found among the 

most common words in the general dataset. In the general dataset, the predominant words 

indicate a more utilitarian outlook, such as “learn” and “easy.”
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This study examines the current state of privacy in the Android teen app marketplace and 

breaks down the privacy risks that teens face with each engagement.

Table 4: 

30 Most Common Words, Teen Dataset

Word Count

Game 3998

video 3044

app 2287

play 2182

free 1884

photo 1859

new 1624

use 1509

friend 1455

feature 1329

get 1325

music 1297

make 1282

download 1170

world 1076

best 1030

player 1022

like 962

share 891

fun 848

time 831

create 816

mode 813

one 770

device 765

take 765

support 724

challenge 690

effect 687

battle 644

Table 5: 

30 Most Common Words, General Dataset

Word Count

app 114024

game 108873

use 66293

free 55505

new 53043

play 48548

feature 45705

get 44045

make 39100

time 38804

help 31556

find 30483

video 30392

support 29451

best 28568

device 28241

one 27332

like 27273

world 26529

learn 26033

create 25193

photo 24550

need 24029

phone 23059

download 22376

easy 22025

also 21465

fun 20978

include 20889

share 20141
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Monetization: Advertising vs. In-App Purchases

TAPP further examined the number of apps in each dataset that relied on advertising 

or in-app purchases for monetization. In the mobile app ecosystem, app publishers 

frequently rely on advertising in the form of contextual advertising19 or interest-based 

advertising (IBA, also known as targeted advertising)20 to monetize their products. 

Additionally, app publishers may integrate the ability to purchase items, features, 

and upgrades into their apps (in-app purchases or IAP),21 We note that our datasets 

and our program’s general experience in the mobile app ecosystem show that many 

mobile apps employ both methods.

In the teen dataset, almost 83% of apps used advertising to monetize, compared to 

51% in the general dataset.

In the teen dataset, 78% of apps contained in-app purchases, compared with less than 

50% in the general dataset.

When looking at the genres of gaming apps, games for teens were more likely to 

have in-app purchases. In the teen dataset, the ratio of apps with in-app purchases to 

those without was almost 13:1, compared to the general dataset’s ratio of 4:1.

Table 6: 

Ad-Supported Apps, General Dataset

Advertising Monetization Number 

of Apps

Ad supported 27,335

Non-ad supported 26,351 

Table 7: 

Ad-Supported Apps, Teen Dataset

Advertising Monetization Number 

of Apps

Ad supported 948 

Non-ad supported 196 

Table 8: 

In-App Purchase Apps, General Dataset

In-App Purchases 

Monetization

Number 

of Apps

In-app purchases 26,599 

No in-app purchases 27,087 

Table 9: 

In-App Purchase Apps, Teen Dataset

In-App Purchases 

Monetization

Number 

of Apps

In-app purchases 895 

No in-app purchases 249 

Table 10: 

In-App Purchase Gaming Apps, General 

Dataset

Gaming Apps Number 

of Apps

In-app purchases 12,882 

No in-app purchases 3,254 

Table 11: 

In-App Purchase Gaming Apps, Teen 

Dataset

Gaming Apps Number 

of Apps

In-app purchases 591 

No in-app purchases 47
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Identifying Third-Party Data Trackers

We used Exodus Privacy’s Exodus Core framework22 to identify third-party trackers in 

downloaded APKs.23 Broadly speaking, a tracker is a type of software intended to collect 

data about user behavior. A tracker can be a “first-party” tracker, created by an app 

publisher, or a “third-party” tracker, created by an unaffiliated company and integrated by 

the publisher.

In mobile apps, trackers commonly collect device identifiers, location data, or other 

characteristics of a mobile device’s hardware or software to facilitate data collection for 

IBA, a common means of monetizing mobile apps and websites.24

We disassembled the downloaded APKs from the teen dataset to analyze the “bytecode” 

of the APKs for the signatures of known trackers and found:

• As seen in Figure 1, the median number of trackers per app was 10.

• As seen in Table 13, the most common tracker was Google AdMob.

• Most trackers are owned by Facebook or Google.

• As seen in Table 14, many of the apps with the highest number of trackers are offered 

by the Cyprus-based app publisher Outfit7.25

• As seen in Table 15, Action games have the largest number of aggregate trackers.

• As seen in Table 16, when gaming apps are taken out of the equation, photography 

apps have the highest aggregate number of trackers.

• When we examine genres with 15 or more apps in this dataset, word games have the 

highest tracker count when calculated by median (17), followed by arcade games (14).

• When gaming apps are taken out of the equation, when we examined genres with 15 

or more apps in this dataset, we found that social media apps have the highest tracker 

count when calculated by median (11), followed by photography apps (9).

Figure 1: 

Tracker Presence Per App, Teen Dataset
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Table 13: 

Top 10 Trackers, Teen Dataset

Tracker Name Number of Apps

Google AdMob 1086

Google Firebase Analytics 981

Facebook Ads 672

Facebook Login 614

Facebook Share 594

Google CrashLytics 580

Facebook Analytics 579

Unity3d Ads 567

Moat (Oracle) 498

AppLovin 402

Table 14: 

Apps with Highest Number of Trackers, Teen Dataset

App Name Number of Trackers

Magic Jigsaw Puzzles 47

My Story: Choose Your Own Path 38

Perfect 365: One Tap Makeover 37

Rodeo Stampede: Sky Zoo Safari 37

Rayman Adventures 36

My Talking Hank 35

Text Me: Text Free, Call Free, Second Phone Number 35

Smurfs’ Village 34

Swamp Attack 34

Talking Ben the Dog 34

International Fashion Stylist: Model Design Studio 33

My Talking Tom 33

Talking Tom Cat 33

AXES.io 33

Talking Ginger 2 32

My Talking Tom 2 32

My Talking Tom Friends 32

Talking Angela 32

Talking Tom Candy Run 32

Talking Tom Gold Run 32

Talking Tom Jetski2 32
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App Name Number of Trackers

Talking Tom Hero Dash 31

My Talking Angela 31

Checkers 31

ASKfm-Ask Me Anonymous Questions 30

Talking Ginger 30

Talking Tom and Ben News 30

textPlus: Free Text & Calls 29

Talking Tom Bubble Shooter 29

battle 644

Table 15. 

Trackers by Genre, Teen Dataset

 Genre Aggregate Trackers Number of Apps Median Trackers

Action Games 1,260 120 9

Casual Games 1,162 88 12

Arcade Games 881 64 14

Puzzle Games 779 57 13

Photography 661 79 9

Sports 644 56 11

Entertainment 567 53 9

Music & Audio 537 55 8

Video Players & Editors 535 70 7

Racing Games 518 48 10

Table 16. 

Trackers by Genre, Games Removed, Teen Dataset

 Genre Aggregate Trackers Number of Apps Median Trackers

Trackers 1,162 88 12

Photography 661 79 9

Entertainment 567 53 9

Music & Audio 537 55 8

Video Players & Editors 535 70 7

Tools 449 59 6

Social 390 31 11

Communication 245 37 6

Personalization 191 21 8

Health & Fitness 169 22 8

Shopping 102 11 11
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Analyzing App Permissions Requests

Mobile apps can request permission to access certain device features such as a Global 

Positioning System (GPS) location, microphone, and/or camera. Permissions requests 

typically come in the form of a pop-up box that requires the user to either enable or 

disable the request, while other permissions are enabled automatically in the app, such as 

permissions for internet access (see Figure 2).26

Google states that “the purpose of a permission is to protect the privacy of an Android 

user.”27 Google Play store policies indicate that apps should not ask permission to access 

something that they do not need to function (e.g., an e-reading app should not need to 

request a location permission to function). 

Figure 2: 

Example – Google App Permission Request

To conduct our analysis of permissions requests, we relied on both public data scraped 

from the Google Play Store and data that we obtained from each app’s manifest28 as a 

result of our static analysis. Wherever possible, we relied on the manifest permissions list 

that we analyzed in each app’s APK. However, to obtain equivalent data when comparing 

general and teen datasets, we used permissions data scraped from the Google Play Store. 

This is because the Google Play Store data and the information contained in an app’s 

manifests may differ.

Based on the data listed in the Google Play Store, apps in the teen dataset requested 

a median of 11 permissions per app compared to 10 permissions per app in the general 

dataset.

In our static analysis, conducted of the apps in the teen dataset, we found the median 

number of permissions requested in the teen dataset was 8 (Figure 3).29

282 apps requested 6-7 permissions, the mode of the teen dataset (Figure 3).
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5 apps requested more than 50 permissions each, with 2 of those apps requesting over 100 

permissions each (Figure 3).

Apps from the teen dataset in the “Tools” genre were found to have the largest number of 

aggregate permissions requests, followed by communication apps (Table 21).

Dangerous Permissions Requests

The Google Play Store categorizes permissions requests into three categories: normal, 

signature, and dangerous. Normal permissions requests pose little threat to user privacy, 

whereas dangerous permissions “involve the user’s privacy information or could potentially 

affect the user’s stored data or the operation of other apps.30” For example, accessing a 

device’s fine location or camera would be considered dangerous permissions requests.

When examining publicly scraped data from the Google Play Store, we found that there 

was a median of 5 dangerous permissions requested for apps in the general dataset 

compared to a median of 6 dangerous permissions requested in the teen dataset.

Looking at permissions requests data from the teen dataset’s app manifests, we identified 

the top 10 dangerous permissions requested across teen-directed apps as well as the top 5 

trackers associated with apps requesting those dangerous permissions (Tables 19 & 20).

Though the permissions requests are visible to the user, the trackers themselves are often 

not. When comparing which trackers appeared with which permissions a specific app 

requested, adjusting for how many times a tracker appeared overall in the teen dataset, we 

identified the top 5 trackers associated with each common dangerous permission request.

Echoing the earlier tracker analysis, most trackers identified as frequently co-occurring 

with dangerous permissions are controlled by Facebook and Google.

Figure 3: 

Permissions Requested per App, Teen Dataset

Table 17: 
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Top 10 Requested Permissions, Teen Dataset

Permission Name Function Protection 

Level

Number of 

Apps

INTERNET Allows applications to open network 

sockets

Normal 1139

ACCESS_NETWORK_

STATE

Allows applications to access 

information about networks

Normal 1136

WAKE_LOCK Allows using PowerManager 

WakeLocks to keep processor from 

sleeping or screen from dimming. 

Normal 1072

WRITE_EXTERNAL_

STORAGE

Allows applications to write to 

external storage

Dangerous 851

ACCESS_WIFI_STATE Allows applications to access 

information about Wi-Fi networks

Normal 832

VIBRATE Allows access to the vibrator. Normal 701

READ_EXTERNAL_

STORAGE

Allows applications to read from 

external storage. Any app that 

declares the WRITE_EXTERNAL_

STORAGE permission is implicitly 

granted this permission.

Dangerous 697

RECEIVE_BOOT_

COMPLETED

Allows applications to receive the 

Intent.ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED 

that is broadcast after the system 

finishes booting.

Normal 485

FOREGROUND_

SERVICE

Allows a regular application to use 

Service.startForeground.

Normal 359

CAMERA Required to be able to access the 

camera device.

Dangerous 294
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Table 18: 

Apps Requesting the Greatest Number of Permissions, Teen Dataset

Word Count

Parallel Space – Multiple accounts & Two face 102

Parallel Space Lite – Dual App 102

Samsung Smart Switch Mobile 66

EasyShare – Ultrafast File Transfer, Free & No Ads 60

GO Launcher - 3D parallax Themes & HD Wallpapers 52

Truecaller: Caller ID, block fraud & scam calls 47

Signal Private Messenger 47

Messenger for SMS 46

WeChat 46

Free phone calls, free texting SMS on free number 45

TextNow: Free Texting & Calling App 43

AirDroid: Remote access & File 43

UC Browser- Free & Fast Video Downloader, News App 41

C launcher:DIY themes,hide apps,wallpapers,2020 40

KakaoTalk: Free Calls & Text 40

GO Security—AntiVirus, AppLock, Booster 39

Mi Browser Pro - Video Download, Free, Fast&Secure 39

WhatsApp Messenger 39

OK 39

Skype - free IM & video calls 38

APUS Launcher - 3d wallpaper&Themes,Hide apps 37

Safe Security - Antivirus, Booster, Phone Cleaner 37

UC Mini-Download Video Status & Movies 37

Uplive - Live Video Streaming App 36

Facebook 36

SHAREit - Transfer & Share 36

Mi Remote controller - for TV, STB, AC and more 35

BOTIM - Unblocked Video Call and Voice Cal 35

Eyecon: Caller ID, Calls and Phone Contacts 34

AppLock 34
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As seen above, we identified 5 apps requested over 50 permissions each, with 2 of those 

apps requesting over 100 permissions each.

Table 19: 

Top 10 Requested Dangerous Permissions, Teen Dataset

Permission Name Function Number of 

Apps

WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE Allows app to write to external storage 851

READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE Allows app to read from external 

storage. Any app that declares the 

WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE 

permission is implicitly granted this 

permission.

697

CAMERA Required to be able to access the 

camera device.

294

RECORD_AUDIO Allows app to record audio. (Enables the 

device microphone)

265

READ_PHONE_STATE Allows read-only access to phone state, 

including the current cellular network 

information, the status of any ongoing 

calls, and a list of any PhoneAccounts 

registered on the device

281

ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION Allows app to access approximate 

location.

225

GET_ACCOUNTS Allows access to the list of accounts in 

the Accounts Service.

216

 ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION Allows app to access precise location 201

READ_CONTACTS Allows app to read the user's contacts 

data.

128

WRITE_CONTACTS Allows app to write the user's contacts 

data.

50
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Table 20: 

Top 5 Trackers Associated with Dangerous Permissions, Teen Dataset

Permission Name Associated Trackers

WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE Google Crashlytics

Facebook Login

Facebook Share

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BBB National Programs

TeenAge Privacy Program

Table 21: 

Top 10 Genres Requesting Most Permissions, Teen Dataset

1. Tools

2. Communication

3. Photography

4. Video Players & Editors

5. Action Games

6. Social

7. Music & Audio

8. Casual Games

9. Entertainment

10. Personalization

Table 22: 

Top 10 Genres by Number of Permissions Requested, Teen Dataset

App Genre Aggregate 

Permissions

Number of 

Apps

Median 

Permissions

Tools 1211 59 17

Communication 1090 37 32

Photography 925 79 10

Video Players & Editors 853 70 10

Action Games 830 120 6

Social 782 31 23

Music & Audio 743 55 13

Casual Games 586 88 6

Entertainment 584 53 9

Personalization 494 21 18
© BBB National Programs, 2020. All Rights Reserved. bbbprograms.org 22

BBB National Programs

TeenAge Privacy Program

Table 23: 

Top 10 per Genre by Number of Permissions Requested, Games Removed, Teen Dataset

App Genre Aggregate 

Permissions

Number of 

Apps

Median 

Permissions

Tools 1211 59 17

Communication 1090 37 32

Photography 925 79 10

Video Players & Editors 853 70 10

Social 782 31 23

Music & Audio 743 55 13

Entertainment 584 53 9

Personalization 494 21 18

Health & Fitness 305 22 11

Productivity 217 15 15

Apps from our teen dataset in the “Tools” genre have the largest number of aggregate 

permissions, followed by communication apps. When we examine genres with 15 or more 

apps in our dataset, we find that communications apps request the greatest median 

number of permissions, followed by social media apps.

Looking at the Global App Publisher Landscape

Starting with the information provided in each Play Store profile, TAPP correlated each app 

in the teen dataset to the country where its developer is based31 to identify the countries32 

with the greatest number of apps in the dataset and whose correlating apps contained the 

most trackers. Notably, approximately 9% of apps in the teen dataset did not provide any 

clear address information for their developers, which required us to conduct independent 

research to identify these developers’ home countries.

Using this information, we identified:

• Countries with app publishers with the highest tracker count (Table 25).

• The countries with apps that requested the most permissions (Table 26).

• In-app purchase percentages for top app publisher countries (Figure 5).
© BBB National Programs, 2020. All Rights Reserved. bbbprograms.org 23

BBB National Programs

TeenAge Privacy Program

Table 24: 

Countries with Greatest Number of Apps, Teen Dataset

Country Number of Apps

United States 342

China 119

United Kingdom 54

South Korea 46

Singapore 43

France 39

Cyprus 37

Israel 36

Russia 30

India 29

Figure 4: 

Heat Map of Countries with Most Apps, Teen Dataset

On the next page, Table 25 illustrates the median number of trackers per app associated 

with each country. To provide a more objective look at the overall privacy impact of each 

country’s app publishers, we set a threshold for each country excluding any with fewer than 

30 associated apps. We further provide in Table 26 the countries with the most permissions 

requested per app from the teen dataset.
© BBB National Programs, 2020. All Rights Reserved. bbbprograms.org 24

BBB National Programs

TeenAge Privacy Program

Table 25: 

Countries with Most Trackers per App, Teen 

Dataset

Country Median 

Trackers

Cyprus 28

Israel 17

France 13

United Kingdom 11

China 10

United States 9

Singapore 9

Russia 7

South Korea 6

Table 26: 

Countries with Most Permissions Requested 

per App, Teen Dataset

Country Median 

Trackers

China 18

South Korea 15.5

France 15

United States 14

Singapore 11

Russia 10

Israel 10

United Kingdom 9

Cyprus 9

Figure 5: 

In-App Purchases Percentages, Teen Dataset

Here, in Figure 5 above, we observe that a high percentage of each country’s app products 

monetize through in-app purchases.33 We speculate that app developers aim to maximize 

their monetization through a combination of data collection for advertising and in-app 

purchases, especially if they offer a product that achieves a high installation count.
© BBB National Programs, 2020. All Rights Reserved. bbbprograms.org 25

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TeenAge Privacy Program

Conclusion

This study demonstrates an unchecked ecosystem of data collection for a uniquely 

vulnerable audience. Teen data privacy is a complex topic that does not belong in the same 

conversations as data privacy regulation for children. As the data show, teens are voracious 

users of digital media platforms, and their quest for greater engagement threatens the 

safety of their personal data. 

We look forward to more opportunities to continue this research and encourage companies 

interested in joining the efforts of the TeenAge Privacy Program to reach out and contact 

us at TAPP@bbbnp.org.

______________

[1] See generally Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. 6501–6505. See also Federal Trade 

Commission, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA”), https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/

rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule (last visited Sept. 16, 2020).

[2] See Marketing Charts, US Population Distribution, by Age Group and Gender (July 1, 2019), https://www.

marketingcharts.com/charts/us-population-distribution-by-age-and-gender-in-2019/attachment/censusbureauus-population-distribution-by-age-group-and-gender-july2020, noting individuals between 12-17 year old 

represent 7.6 percent of the total population.

[3] J. Clement, U.S. mobile device owner monthly app download rate 2018, by age group, Statista, (Dec. 6, 2019), 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/243794/us-adult-cell-phone-owners-who-have-downloaded-apps-by-agegroup/.

[4] Rideout, V., and Robb, M.B., Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences, Common Sense Media 

(2018), https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/2018-social-media-social-lifeexecutive-summary-web.pdf.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] See generally, Congress.gov, H.R.5573 - PROTECT Kids Act, https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/

house-bill/5573?s=1&r=1 (last visited Oct. 22, 2020). Markey.senate.gov, SENATORS MARKEY AND BLUMENTHAL 

INTRODUCE FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND LEGISLATION TO PROTECT CHILDREN ONLINE FROM HARMFUL CONTENT, 

DESIGN FEATURES (March 5, 2020),https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markeyand-blumenthal-introduce-first-of-its-kind-legislation-to-protect-children-online-from-harmful-contentdesignfeatures_#:~:text=and%20Senator%20Richard%20Blumenthal%20(D,and%20Safety%20(KIDS)%20

Act.&text=%E2%80%9CBig%20Tech%20has%20designed%20their,purchases%2C%E2%80%9D%20said%20-

Senator%20Blumenthal.

[8] Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media, and Privacy (May 21, 2013), https://www.pewresearch.org/

internet/2013/05/21/teens-social-media-and-privacy/.

[9] We note that due to our research methodology it was easier to narrow the focus of this paper to the Android 

mobile app ecosystem. We do not intend to provide commentary on the privacy practices of Apple and Google in 

relation to one another. Nothing in this report is intended or should be construed to be an endorsement or critique 

of a company’s policies or practices.

[10] See generally Google Play Store, Top Charts, https://play.google.com/store/apps/top?hl=en_US (last visited 

Sept. 9, 2020). Genres can be access by clicking “categories” option. We note that genres include, but are not 

limited to, the following: ‘Dating,’ ‘Education,’ ‘Entertainment,” ‘’Finance,’ etc.

[11] See generally Google-play-scraper, https://github.com/facundoolano/google-play-scraper/ (last visited Sept. 

8, 2020).

[12] TAPP notes that a similar app is an app linked on the sidebar of a Google Play Store app page under “similar.”
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[13] This figure is the final number of apps for our general dataset after some errors were removed.

[14] The Digital Advertising Accountability Program relied on the following framework to assess the teen-directed 

nature of apps. (1) The subject matter, including childish pranks, rites of passage, youth romance, fashion, beauty, 

sports, performing arts, or mental health. (a) Subject matter appealing primarily to children, such as basic spelling 

or counting, elementary school arithmetic, most coloring books, and low-vocabulary apps, is not considered to 

be directed at teenagers. (b) Subject matter chiefly of interest to or appropriate only for adults, such as business, 

finance, gambling, or pornography is not considered to be directed at teenagers (i) Notwithstanding factor (1)

(b) of these guidelines, business or utility-oriented apps that provide features of strong interest to teenagers, 

such as file sharing or video downloading, may be considered as directed to teenagers, even though such apps 

may appear to be targeted primarily to adults. (2) Visual content, including settings appealing to teenagers 

such as skate parks, zoos, summer camps, or teen clubs. (a) Visual depictions targeted at teenagers may include 

depictions of violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, and some strong language. (b) Visual 

content appealing to young children, such as brightly colored animated creatures, fairy tale settings, or other 

images or activities associated with young children, is not considered to be directed to teenagers. (c) Visual 

content chiefly of interest to or appropriate only for adults, such as intense violence, blood and gore, and sexual 

content is not considered to be directed to teenagers. (3) The use of teenager-oriented characters, activities, or 

incentives, particularly involving characters under the age of 25. (4) The kind of music or other audio content. 

(5) Models appearing to be under the age of 25. (6) The presence of celebrities who appeal to teenagers. (7) 

Language or other characteristics of the app. (8) Whether advertising that promotes or appears on the app is 

directed to teenagers. (9) Notwithstanding the prior sections of these guidelines, apps which are known to be 

popular among teenage users may be considered as directed to teenagers, even though such apps may appear to 

be targeted primarily to other users. We note that this framework was influenced by the Entertainment Software 

Ratings Board ratings, factors the FTC has established for examining, the child-directed nature of content, https://

www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-coppa-frequently-asked-questions-0, standards for 

ratings set by the Motion Picture Association of America, https://www.filmratings.com/downloads/rating_rules.

pdf, and the EU’s Responsible Marketing Pact for avoiding the exposure of minors to advertising for alcoholic 

beverages, https://www.filmratings.com/downloads/rating_rules.pdf. See generally Entertainment Software 

Ratings Board, Ratings, https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ (last visited Sept. 8, 2020), Federal Trade Commission, 

Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions, § D.1., https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/

guidance/complying-coppa-frequently-asked-questions (last visited Sept. 8, 2020). FTC v. TinyCo, FTC Matter 

132 3209 (Sept. 2014), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/140916tinycocmpt.pdf. Motion Picture 

Association, Inc., Classification and Rating Rules (July 24, 2020), https://www.filmratings.com/downloads/rating_

rules.pdf. Responsible Marketing Pact, Content of Ads, https://the-rmp.eu/content/ (last visited Sept. 8, 2020).

[15] Android Developers, Application Fundamentals, https://developer.android.com/guide/components/

fundamentals(last visited Sept. 29, 2020) (“Android apps can be written using Kotlin, Java, and C++ languages. 

The Android SDK tools compile your code along with any data and resource files into an APK, an Android 

package, which is an archive file with an .apk suffix. One APK file contains all the contents of an Android app and 

is the file that Android-powered devices use to install the app.”).

[16] Gplaycli, https://github.com/matlink/gplaycli (last visited Sept. 8, 2020). 

[17] We note that gaming apps constitute multiple genres, e.g. ‘Casual,’ ‘Educational,’ ‘Music’

[18] Brian Scott, The Dale-Chall 3,000 Word List for Readability Formulas, https://www.readabilityformulas.com/

articles/dale-chall-readability-word-list.php (last visited Sept. 9, 2020). See also Readability Formulas, The New 

Dale-Chall Readability Formula, https://readabilityformulas.com/new-dale-chall-readability-formula.php (last 

visited Sept. 9 2020).

[19] eMarketer, Mobile Trends 2020: 10 Trends to Monitor As 5G Ramps Up and Privacy Battles Loom, https://

on.emarketer.com/rs/867-SLG-901/images/Branch-Mobile%20Trends%202020%20Report%20Sponsorship.pdf 

(last visited Sept. 16, 2020) (“...[T]here is a resurgence of interest in sophisticated contextual advertising, i.e., using 

the context of the app or web page to infer the interests of the user instead of gathering historical behavior to 

gauge those interests.”).

[20] See generally Digital Advertising Alliance, Consumer Assistance, WebChoices and AppChoices,https://

youradchoices.com/choices-faq#jr02 (last visited Sept. 16, 2020) (“When a user visits a website or uses an app 

that works with an advertising network or other online advertising companies, these advertising companies gather 

information about the user’s browser or device in order to tell when that same user browser or device visits other 

websites or apps within the same network – even if these content offerings are run by different companies or have 

different web addresses or brands. Over time, the information gathered about the browser or device may help 

predict the user’s likely interest in particular categories of ads: for example, users who frequently visit baseballrelated websites might receive more ads for the “baseball/sports enthusiast” category, or users who engage with 

automobile review apps might receive more ads for the particular models of cars that interest them. This inferred 

interest category is used to provide advertising relevant to the category to a particularly browser or device.”).
© BBB National Programs, 2020. All Rights Reserved. bbbprograms.org 27

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[21] Google, Make in-app purchases of Android apps, https://support.google.com/googleplay/

answer/1061913?hl=en (last visited Sept. 9, 2020) (“With some apps, you can buy additional content or services 

within the app. We call these “in-app purchases.” Here are some examples of in-app purchases: A sword that gives 

you more power in a game...A key that unlocks more features of a free app...Virtual currency that can be used for 

purchases.”). Apple, Buy additional app features with in-app purchases and subscriptions, https://support.apple.

com/en-us/HT202023 (last visited Sept. 9, 2020).

[22] See generally Exodus Privacy, Who we are, https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/page/who/ (last visited Sept. 

8, 2020). See also Exodus-Privacy, https://github.com/Exodus-Privacy/exodus-core (last visited Sept.8, 2020). 

TAPP notes that the Exodus Core set of frameworks uses “dexdump,” a standard Android platform tool, to 

disassemble the APK. This tool looks at the app manifest to determine permissions requested, then looks over the 

bytecode for the signatures of known trackers previously identified by Exodus. Exodus Privacy, Trackers https://

reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/trackers/ (Sept 8. 2020). See generally Google Git, Dexdump, https://android.

googlesource.com/platform/dalvik/+/09239e3/dexdump (last visited Sept. 8, 2020). Android Developers, App 

Manifest Overview, https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro (last visited Sept. 8, 

2020). Android Developers, Dalvik bytecode, https://source.android.com/devices/tech/dalvik/dalvik-bytecode 

(last visited Sept. 8, 2020). See generally Wikipedia, Bytecode, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bytecode (last 

visited Sept. 8, 2020) (“Bytecode, also termed portable code or p-code, is a form of instruction set designed for 

efficient execution by a software interpreter. Unlike human-readable source code, bytecodes are compact numeric 

codes, constants, and references (normally numeric addresses) that encode the result of compiler parsing and 

performing semantic analysis of things like type, scope, and nesting depths of program objects.”).

[23] Exodus Privacy, What Exodus Privacy Does, https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/page/what/ (last visited Sept. 

8, 2020) (“A tracker is a piece of software meant to collect data about you or what you do.”). Gunes Acar, Online 

Tracking Technologies and Web Privacy (May 2017), https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/publications/thesis-289.

pdf (“Android apps and third-parties can access common identifiers present on the smartphone, such as MAC 

address, Google Advertising ID or IMEI number.”). See generally Interactive Advertising Bureau, Mobile Identity 

Guide for Marketers (June 2017), https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Mobile-Identity-Guide-forMarketers-Report.pdf.

[24] See generally Digital Advertising Alliance, DAA Self-Regulatory Principles, https://digitaladvertisingalliance.

org/principles (last visited Sept. 14, 2020). See also OBA Principles Summary at 2, (“The Principles apply to online 

behavioral advertising, defined as the collection of data online from a particular computer or device regarding 

Web viewing behaviors over time and across non-affiliate Web sites for the purpose of using such data to predict 

user preferences or interests to deliver advertising to that computer or device based on the preferences or 

interests inferred from such Web viewing behaviors.”) See generally Mobile Guidance. TAPP notes that the DAA’s 

Self Regulatory Principles can be located here: https://digitaladvertisingalliance.org/principles.

[25] See generally Outfit7, Outfit7, https://outfit7.com (last visited Sept. 14, 2020).

[26] Android Developers, Permissions Overview, https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/permissions/

overview (last visited Sept. 16, 2020).

[27] Id. 

[28] Android Developers, App Manifest Overview, https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifestintro (last visited Sept. 16, 2020) (“Every app project must have an AndroidManifest.xml file (with precisely that 

name) at the root of the project source set. The manifest file describes essential information about your app to the 

Android build tools, the Android operating system, and Google Play.”).

[29] We note that this discrepancy is likely the result of the way the Google Play Store tracks permissions. 

Permissions requests listed in old versions of apps may still be listed on the Google Play Store, even if the current 

version does not request those permissions. Consequently, data from the Google Play Store version will tend to 

show that an app has a higher permissions requests count, versus the permissions requests count that results from 

a static analysis of a downloaded APK.

[30] Android Developers, Permissions overview, https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/permissions/

overview (last visited Sept. 17, 2020). We do not analyze signature permissions requests as a distinct category in 

this paper.

[31] Not all of the publicly scraped data for app store pages provided an app publisher location. Of the 1144 apps 

in the teen dataset, all but 99 could be matched to their developer’s countries based on keyword matches to their 

provided address. The 99 remaining either had blank addresses or provided so little information that they could 

not readily be matched to a country. Of those 99, 87 could be matched with countries based on investigating the 

developers to identify their likely locations. 12 apps remain unmatched.
© BBB National Programs, 2020. All Rights Reserved. bbbprograms.org 28

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[32] Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong are included within “Greater China.” See generally Asia-Pacific Economic 

Cooperation, https://www.apec.org/ (last visited Sept. 9, 2020).

[33] Here, we again used a threshold of countries with at least 30 app products to calculate which countries had a 

set of apps with the highest percentage of in-app purchases.