Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame
"Help a monster friend with big feelings learn to calm down and solve everyday challenges." Yes please! Elmo and the gang at Sesame Street's app -- aimed at parents and caregivers of kids aged 2-5 -- is designed to help the young ones learn how to calm down, learn self-control, and expand their emotional vocabulary. The app is bilingual in English and Spanish, research-based, and free to download and use. Sesame Workshop's privacy policy says most of the things kids can do on the app don't require users to submit any personal information. Yay! Now, if they only made an adult version too! And GOOD NEWS! As of June 1, 2022, Sesame Workshop has updated their privacy policy and addressed the small security concerns we had. Good work Elmo and team!
What could happen if something goes wrong?
We're not too worried about the privacy of Sesame Workshop's mental development app for young children. The privacy policy does say that sometimes personal information like name and email might be collected but only with parental consent. And with no behavioral advertising (read, targeted ads) on the platform, parents should be able to breathe a small sigh of relief. Sesame Workshop is an educational non-profit, so they aren't trying to make money off you or your child's data, which is a breath of fresh air.
Our biggest privacy flag for this app is the privacy policy hadn't been updated since 2013, which is a very long time in privacy policy years. We're proud to report that after working with Sesame Workshop, they have now updated their privacy policy, as of June 1, 2022!
As part of their updated privacy policy, Sesame Workshop has now added a way for people to report security vulnerabilities, which was our biggest outstanding security concern. They now meet our Minimum Security Standards. We have to say, we're pleased to see them be responsive to our research and love that they updated their policies. Good work. We feel pretty good now about the privacy and security of this app for children.
What's the worst that could happen? Hopefully nothing more than your child learns how to be a little bit calmer. Calm is good. But we should remind parents that anything that connects to the internet your child plays with has potential vulnerabilities so it's always good to supervise them when they use your devices. And remember parents, please follow the basic guidelines for protecting young children online (please always do this parents and caregivers!), your child's privacy will likely be pretty safe.
Tips to protect yourself
- Parents should read up and implement the guidelines on how to protect children online.
- Never share your child's personal information online
- Use the app with your child
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: N/A
App: No
Microphone
Device: N/A
App: Yes
Tracks location
Device: N/A
App: No
What can be used to sign up?
Yes
Phone
No
Third-party account
No
What data does the company collect?
Personal
Optional: name, email, phone number. Most of the activities on the Platforms do not require you to submit any personal information.
Body related
Social
How does the company use this data?
How can you control your data?
What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?
No known privacy or security incidents discovered in the last 3 years.
Child Privacy Information
Can this product be used offline?
User-friendly privacy information?
Links to privacy information
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
The app collects no personal data
Strong password
No password needed, as there is no sign-up process in the app
Security updates
Manages vulnerabilities
To report potential security vulnerabilities, please write to [email protected]
Comments
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