Disney to pay $10M, resolving alleged child privacy law violations
VENN
(NewsNation) — Disney has agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations it violated federal child privacy laws on YouTube, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
The DOJ alleges Disney Worldwide Services and Disney Entertainment Operations did not label some of their YouTube videos as "Made for Kids," allowing the streaming giant to collect data on children without parental permission.
The order finalizes a settlement reached in September, which allowed Disney to avoid a trial for the alleged violations.
The $10 million agreement also requires Disney to create a program to "ensure it properly complies" with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule privacy law on YouTube.
That means Disney must properly label videos as children's content, ask parents' permission for data collection and notify guardians of what has been collected.
Disney's YouTube channel is "extremely popular" and has garnered billions of views in just the U.S., according to the DOJ.
"The Justice Department is firmly devoted to ensuring parents have a say in how their children’s information is collected and used,” DOJ Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said in a statement.
