Disney to pay $10 Million to settle allegations of unlawfully collecting childrens personal data
Disney will pay $10 million settlement for allegedly mislabelling children’s videos on YouTube, allowing data collection without parental consent. The FTC settlement requires stricter compliance and improved video labelling or age verification.
The Walt Disney Company will pay $10 million to settle allegations that it breached children’s privacy laws by mislabelling videos aimed at young audiences on YouTube, allowing personal data to be collected without parental consent.
In a complaint filed by the US Department of Justice, following a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) referral, Disney was accused of incorrectly designing hundreds of child-directed videos as ‘Made for Kids’.
Instead, the company applied a blanket ‘Not Made for Kids’ label at the channel level, enabling YouTube to collect data and serve targeted advertising to viewers under 13, contrary to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The FTC claims Disney profited through direct ad sales and revenue-sharing with YouTube. Despite being notified by YouTube in 2020 that over 300 videos had been misclassified, Disney did not revise its labelling policy.
Under the proposed settlement, Disney must pay the civil penalty, fully comply with COPPA by obtaining parental consent before data collection, and implement a video review programme to ensure accurate classification, unless YouTube introduces age assurance technologies to determine user age reliably.
“This case underscores the FTC’s commitment to protecting children’s privacy online,” said FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson. “Parents, not corporations like Disney, should decide how their children’s data is collected and used.”
The agreement, which a federal judge must still approve, reflects growing pressure on tech platforms and content creators to safeguard children’s digital privacy.
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