YouTube To Pay $170 Million Fine For Violating Children Data Policy
Google Will Pay $136 Million To FTC And $34 Million To New York State For The Settlement Of This Lawsuit.
Internet giant Google will pay a huge $170 million to settle allegations filed by federal and state authorities for violating the kid’s privacy law.
The federal trade Commission said on Wednesday that YouTube broke the children privacy on YouTube by `collecting personal information of the children without their parents’ compliance.
For this incident, Google has to pay $136 million to FTC and $34 million to New York State for violating the Children’s online privacy protection Act (COPPA). By using cookies, YouTube tracked viewers of the Children’s channels without the confirmation of their parents and by using the cookies it delivered millions of dollars worth targeted advertisements to those viewers.
Children who are under the age of 13 are protected by a 1998 federal law. By this law companies such as Alphabet Inc (Alphabet Inc owns Google) requires parental willingness before collecting and sharing any personal information.
FTC Chairman Joe Simons said, “YouTube touted its popularity with children to prospective corporate clients.”But when it came to complying with the law, he said, “The company refused to acknowledge that portions of its platform were clearly directed to kids.”
YouTube allows companies to create channels on YouTube. These include the ads and which generates revenue for both the companies and YouTube. Although the Google will pay $170 million to Federal Trade Commission and New York State which is the largest against Google but it seems small compared to a $5 billion fine to Facebook for violating the privacy.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said, “Google and YouTube knowingly and illegally monitored, tracked, and served targeted ads to young children just to keep advertising dollars rolling in.”
