WPP and KidTech platform SuperAwesome partner to ensure privacy and safety for kids and families within online advertising

• Responding to ongoing shifts in children’s online consumption patterns, WPP has partnered with kidtech platform SuperAwesome to build a safe environment for kids.
• WPP agencies and clients will have access to the kidtech team at SuperAwesome and its kid-safe engagement platform and insights tools.

WPP and kidtech platform SuperAwesome have joined hands to advance the standards of privacy for children in the global digital ecosystem.

With children making up 40% of all new internet users[1], the partnership seeks to address the imbalances of today’s internet infrastructure, which was designed for adults. The collaboration will further support brands on how to engage responsibly and in compliance with new global privacy laws passed by regulators – including COPPA (US), CCPA (California), GDPR-K (Europe) and Age Appropriate Design Code (UK) – which have been specifically designed to protect children online and ensure that only zero-data technology is used for digital engagement.

WPP agencies and clients will have access to the world-leading kidtech team at SuperAwesome and its kid-safe engagement platform and insights tools, including the company’s highly regarded KidAware certification programme that ensures online engagement complies with the latest privacy legislation and advertising standards. The partnership builds on existing controls GroupM has helped to establish that excludes or minimises the risk of exposure to unsuitable content for children in social media.

Children’s extensive use of technology is continuing to play a more important role in families, the channels they choose to engage with and the decisions they make. With almost half the world’s children now at home during the coronavirus pandemic and spending 50% more time on screens[2], the need for safe and trusted digital experiences has never been more important.

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said, “We’re already seeing big changes in family life as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and how we all interact with technology. WPP’s partnership with SuperAwesome is part of our commitment to ensure children’s safety while engaging with content online. It sets the first benchmark for digital privacy for children and provides our clients with access to industry-leading strategies and the latest privacy-by-design technology for the under-16 digital media space.”

Dylan Collins, CEO of SuperAwesome, said, “Kids’ opinions are increasingly important in the family and for society. Retail, personal care, entertainment and brands in many other verticals understand the influence youth have on their businesses, but have been struggling to understand how to engage responsibly and compliantly. It’s a business imperative to evolve how we interact with and support the under-16 audiences, especially as their digital consumption patterns will be forever changed by their COVID-19 experiences. We are proud to be working with WPP and their clients to proactively lead best practices for kid-safe digital engagement everywhere.”