Disney Ordered To Pay $10M For Violating Children’s Online Privacy: Justice Department

BURBANK, CA — Federal officials ordered Disney to pay $10 million in civil penalties as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in connection with the media giant's popular YouTube video content, authorities said Tuesday.

A federal court entered a stipulated order resolving the case against Disney, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act prohibits website operators from knowingly collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children under 13 unless operators provide notice to and obtain consent from the children’s parents, authorities said.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the government alleged that the Burbank-based company improperly failed to designate YouTube content as directed toward children. As a result, Disney and others acting on the company’s behalf targeted advertising toward children on YouTube and unlawfully collected children’s information without parental notice and consent, according to the department.

Disney’s YouTube content is extremely popular, with billions of views in the U.S. alone.

“The Justice Department is firmly devoted to ensuring parents have a say in how their children’s information is collected and used,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the department’s Civil Division said in a news release. “The Department will take swift action to root out any unlawful infringement on parents’ rights to protect their children’s privacy.”

In addition to the $10 million penalty, the order bars Disney from operating on YouTube in a manner that violates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and requires the company to create a program that will ensure it properly complies going forward, according to the department.

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the penalty.