WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge has approved an order requiring Disney to pay $10 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company enabled the unlawful collection of personal data from children who viewed kid-directed videos on YouTube.
The settlement resolves claims that Disney Worldwide Services Inc. and Disney Entertainment Operations LLC violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, known as COPPA, by failing to properly label certain videos uploaded to YouTube as “Made for Kids.” By mislabeling the content, the companies allegedly allowed YouTube to collect personal information from children under 13 without notifying parents or obtaining their consent, and to use that data for targeted advertising.
The complaint was filed in September by the U.S. Department of Justice following a referral from the FTC.
Under the court-approved order, Disney must pay a $10 million civil penalty and comply with COPPA requirements, including providing notice to parents and obtaining verifiable parental consent before collecting or using personal information from children under 13.
The settlement also requires Disney to establish and implement a program to review whether videos it posts to YouTube should be designated as made for kids. That requirement would no longer apply if YouTube adopts age-assurance technologies capable of determining users’ ages or age ranges, or if the platform eliminates the option for content creators to label videos as made for kids.
Federal officials said the provisions are intended to strengthen protections for children’s privacy online and reflect the growing role of age-assurance technologies in safeguarding young users.
