Why parents need a chat with Santa checklist: the 2019 Santa app case
A chat with Santa checklist exists because of what happened in July 2019. An 8-year-old girl in Dallas, North Carolina sent "Hey" and a heart to an app called "Santa Call & Text You." The reply was "What are you wearing?" The app had a cheerful name and looked like every other Santa app in the store. Nothing on the listing warned her parents.
Her father took the phone and kept chatting as his daughter. When Dallas police texted the account and said the child was 8, "Santa" wrote back "well you're too young for me." Her mom, Ashley Adams, told WCCB Charlotte (2019) that the person behind the app may have been in another country. Her daughter was left afraid of Santa.
8
Average age a child stops believing in Santa, from a University of Exeter survey of about 1,200 people (2018)
According to a University of Exeter survey (2018), kids stop believing in Santa at 8 on average. So the children most likely to trust whatever "Santa" types are exactly the ones who still believe. If yours is starting to wonder, here is how to handle the "Is Santa real?" question. The good news: almost everything that went wrong in 2019 is easy to spot if a parent looks first.
The four kinds of chat with Santa apps, compared
Chat with Santa apps come in four kinds, and each one carries a different risk. Some send a pre-made video personalized with your child's name. Some run a live AI Santa that answers in real time. A general AI assistant can put on a Santa voice. And on Christmas Eve, real human volunteers answer the phone at NORAD.
| Type | Example | Who is "Santa"? | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-made personalized video | Most of Portable North Pole (PNP) | A recorded video with details you provide | Low risk. Check what personal details and photos you upload. |
| Live AI Santa (text, voice or video) | Tavus AI Santa; PNP's Talk to Santa | An AI that answers in real time | Memory, data kept, time limits, whether it says it is AI |
| General AI assistant with a Santa voice | ChatGPT's Santa voice (added December 2024) | An adult AI assistant in costume | The main app's age rules; your child is inside a full AI tool |
| Real people | NORAD Tracks Santa phone line | Human volunteers | Only open on December 24 |
What each kind of chat means for your child
- Portable North Pole is mostly not AI. Its site says most videos are pre-made and personalized, and that "a few experiences are AI-powered, though: Write Your Own Topic Calls, Stories, and Talk to Santa," which run on paid AI Credits (PNP). Talk to Santa, its live voice call, launched November 17, 2025 (Fox 9).
- Tavus AI Santa can see and remember. TechCrunch reported in December 2025 that it reads facial expressions and gestures, remembers past chats, and can search the web for gift ideas (TechCrunch).
- ChatGPT's Santa voice forgets on purpose. OpenAI said Santa chats "won't be saved in chat history or affect memory" (TechCrunch, 2024). ChatGPT itself is not built for young kids, so check OpenAI's current age rules before you hand it over.
- NORAD is real people. On Christmas Eve 2025, volunteers answered 1-877-HI-NORAD from 4 a.m. to midnight Mountain time. ABC7 reported more than 1,000 volunteers and about 380,000 calls on Christmas Eve 2024 (ABC7 NY). Check NORAD's site for this year's hours.
For a side by side look at specific apps, see our roundup of the best Santa apps, or browse every way to text and write to Santa in the Santa chat hub.
The 8-question chat with Santa checklist for parents
The chat with Santa checklist comes down to eight questions: who types, who reads, whether a stranger can reply, whether the app says it is AI, what it asks your child, what it keeps, what it costs, and how you report a problem. Go through them with the app open. If the store listing, the app or the privacy policy has no answer, count it as a no.
| Question | Good answer | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Who types? | You hold the phone, or you see every message as it is sent | Built for a child alone, with their own account and no parent view |
| 2. Who reads the messages? | The app says plainly whether replies come from a recording, AI or staff | It never says. The 2019 app looked automated and was not. |
| 3. Can a stranger reply? | No open chat, no other users, filters described | Free-text chat with an unknown company and no contact details |
| 4. Does it say it is AI? | At least the parent is told plainly that replies are AI-generated | You cannot tell whether a person, a recording or an AI is answering |
| 5. What does it ask your child? | First name and age at most, both optional | School, address, eye color, face photos |
| 6. What does it keep? | A privacy policy you can find in a minute, with a way to delete data | No privacy policy at all |
| 7. What does it cost? | A clear free amount, then clear prices in dollars | Hidden in-app purchases, auto-renewing plans, a "free" app full of ads |
| 8. How do you report a problem? | A support email or report button and a real company name | No contact details, or a developer you cannot find anywhere |
What a good answer sounds like
Portable North Pole says any story or conversation "can be read and approved by a parent before your child ever sees it" (PNP). PNP also says its free trial video data is deleted every year. On memory, check whether the AI Santa remembers past chats. Tavus's does, which feels magical but means your child's words are stored somewhere.
Time limits and long chats
Watch time limits too. Tavus's CEO told TechCrunch in 2025 that many users chat "for hours" and hit daily limits on the free tier. A long AI conversation with no stop point is worth thinking about, even when it costs nothing.
See how Santa Wishlist answers all eight questions, from filters to photo deletion.
Read the Santa Wishlist safety pageHow to test an AI Santa app in 10 minutes
Testing an AI Santa app yourself takes about 10 minutes, and it is the FTC's own advice. FTC attorney Fil de Banate told 19 News Cleveland (2019): "Do a test run. Figure out what is being said, how your kids might interact with the website or the app." Do it tonight, after bedtime, before your child ever types "Hi Santa."
- 1
Read the listing and privacy policy (3 minutes)
Find who makes the app, what it collects, and what it costs.
- 2
Send a normal kid message
Try "Hi Santa, I want a red bike." Does the reply make sense for a young child?
- 3
Send a personal question
Try "Where do you live? Where do I live?" A good app never asks for your address or school.
- 4
Send something silly or rude
Type what a 7-year-old might. The reply should stay kind and on track.
- 5
Ask "Are you real?"
Note the answer and decide if you are comfortable with it.
- 6
Check the settings
Look for memory, data deletion, ads, and a password for purchases so your child cannot buy more Santa time alone.
- 7
Decide
Use it with you holding the phone, let your child use it alone, or delete it.
If anything in the test feels off, trust that feeling and delete the app. There are plenty of other Santas, including a plain old letter to Santa written online.
What COPPA and California's AI law cover for Santa apps
COPPA and California's SB 243 give parents real protections, but neither one replaces a test run. COPPA requires covered apps to get a parent's permission before collecting personal information from a child under 13. SB 243 adds AI disclosure rules for companion apps. An app sitting in the store today is still not proof that it follows either law.
- COPPA basics: photos, video and audio with a child's image or voice count as personal information. In 2019, FTC attorney Fil de Banate told 19 News Cleveland that a virtual Santa asking for a child's personal information "could be violating" the law, after parents reported apps asking for eye color and school names.
- The 2025 COPPA update: published April 22, 2025, with full compliance due by April 22, 2026. It requires separate parent permission before a child's data goes to third parties, and limits how long companies can keep it (Federal Register, FTC).
- California SB 243: in effect since January 1, 2026. AI companion apps that meet its definition must make clear the user is talking to AI, remind minors to take breaks, and keep sexual content away from minors (TechCrunch). Not every Santa app meets that definition.
- The FTC study: in September 2025 the FTC ordered seven companies, including Alphabet, Character.AI, Meta, OpenAI, Snap and xAI, to explain how they protect kids. It is a study, not a penalty (FTC).
It is important to consider the effects chat programs can have on children.
What to do if a Santa app sends a reply that feels wrong
If a Santa app sends a reply that feels wrong, save the evidence, call local police first, then report the app to the FTC and the app store. Security experts quoted by 19 News Cleveland (2019) advised going to police first. In the North Carolina case, Dallas police were the ones who confirmed a real person was on the other end.
- 1Take screenshots of the messages, with the app name visible.
- 2Call your local police and share the screenshots.
- 3Report the app to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the Better Business Bureau.
- 4Report it in the App Store or Google Play so it gets reviewed.
- 5Delete the app only after you have saved everything.
What to tell your child
Keep it calm and simple: "That wasn't really Santa. Someone was pretending, and you did the right thing by showing me." Then let them know the real Santa is still on the job.
How Santa Wishlist answers the chat with Santa checklist
To chat with Santa in Santa Wishlist, a Santa chat app built for the toy aisle moment, you start when your kid points and says "I want THAT." The parent snaps a photo or types a message and sends it to Santa, and Santa writes back in character within seconds. The elves quietly add the item to a hidden gift list that only you can open, behind your PIN or Face ID.
| Question | Santa Wishlist's answer |
|---|---|
| Who types? | The parent holds the phone and sends every message. |
| Who reads? | Santa's replies are generated by AI. Santa Wishlist says so plainly on its site. Santa himself stays in character. |
| Can a stranger reply? | No. No open chat, no other users, no ads. |
| Filters? | Every message is checked both ways by automated filters. |
| What does it ask? | Your child's first name and age, both optional, so Santa can match the reply to their age. |
| What does it keep? | Photos stay private and are deleted with your account. |
| What does it cost? | First 10 messages free. Candy Cane packs: 25 for $2.99, 60 for $4.99, 150 for $9.99. Or the Whole Season Pass for $19.99: 1,200 messages to use any time until Dec 31. No subscriptions, no renewals. |
| Who makes it? | The company behind Santa Wishlist, which is named on its App Store and Google Play listings. |
What Santa Wishlist is not: it is text and photos only, with no voice or video calls, and it is not a Santa tracker. It launches on the App Store and Google Play in mid November 2026. Full details are on the pricing page.
See how a Santa chat works when the parent holds the phone.
Get Santa Wishlist