A majority of the FTC’s panel of commissioners reportedly approved a settlement with YouTube who the FTC accused of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC alleges that YouTube knowingly collected personal information of children under the age of 13 without parental consent and used it for online advertising aimed at children.
The FTC’s enforcement against YouTube was instigated by a
complaint filed by a coalition of privacy advocates, including the
Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Federation of California,
Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Privacy Information Center and
others. The complaint alleged that 80% of children between 6-12
years of age in the U.S. use YouTube daily and that YouTube has
actual knowledge that many children under 12 use its service.
According to the complaint, YouTube collects “geolocation,
unique device identifiers, mobile telephone numbers, and persistent
identifiers used to recognize a user over time and across different
websites or online services”. The complaint goes on to assert
that YouTube collects “this information from children under
the age of 13, and uses it to target advertisements, without giving
notice or obtaining advanced, verifiable parental consent as
required by COPPA”. The complaint indicates that YouTube
profits from these data activities in two ways. First, by using
children’s personal information to target advertising as part
of its lucrative ad networks. Second, by profiting from advertising
revenues from ads on its YouTube channels that are directed to
children.
The coalition’s complaint concludes with a request that the FTC “assess civil penalties that will deter Google from violating COPPA again”, noting that YouTube’s conduct warrants penalties “totaling tens of billions of dollars”.
CLICK HERE to read the coalition’s request to investigate YouTube for COPPA violations.
This article was published in the Internet, Cyber and Copyright Group’s August 2019 Newsletter.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
