The news: Disney will pay $10 million in a settlement after the Federal Trade Commission alleged that the company collected personal information from children on videos uploaded to YouTube.
- Disney reportedly uploaded child-directed content to YouTube but did not label the videos as “Made for Kids,” allowing young users to be served targeted ads. Information was collected “without parental notice or consent,” according to the FTC and Justice Department.
- By not properly labeling the videos, Disney violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits data collection from users under 13 without parental consent.
- Disney agreed to comply with the act in the settlement and will develop a program to review future videos—though the court said YouTube could also implement measures to restrict data collection from young users or enable Disney to restrict this collection.
Child safety concerns mount: Disney isn’t the only big name facing scrutiny for child safety violations. Google recently settled a lawsuit over accusations that it violated children’s privacy through YouTube by collecting personal data for targeted ads without parental consent, while Meta’s AI chatbot is facing scrutiny for inappropriate conversations with minors.