Disney Worldwide Services Inc. and Disney Entertainment Operations LLC have reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Disney will pay $10 million in civil penalties following an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). According to the FTC, the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.
The lawsuit, filed in California, alleges that Disney failed to properly mark videos on YouTube as child-friendly. This allowed targeted advertising to be shown to children and data to be collected without parental knowledge or consent. Disney’s YouTube content is highly popular, with billions of views in the United States.
Apart from the fine, the settlement prohibits Disney from engaging in activities on YouTube that violate COPPA. The company must also establish a programme to ensure future compliance with the law.
