- Disney incorrectly categorized content, allowing unauthorized tracking of child data on YouTube.
- Disney admitted to an administrative mistake in content classification, mainly during the pandemic.
- FTC claims the error violated the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act's specifications for parental consent.
The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday that it has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a children’s privacy lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission related to videos it uploaded on YouTube a few years ago.
According to Axios, this is the first known case where a YouTube content provider has settled with the FTC over violations of children’s privacy, since a landmark settlement with YouTube and Google in 2019.
The FTC complaint filed by the Department of Justice targets Disney for content that wasn’t uploaded on its own platforms. This could open the way for penalties against other content providers that distribute their work on third-party sites and apps.
What was the complaint over?
According to Bloomberg, the complaint comes after Disney failed to correctly label videos uploaded to its YouTube channels as being made for children. This exposed children to data tracking without parental consent, which is required for such tracking under the FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.
“This case underscores the FTC’s commitment to enforcing COPPA, which was enacted by Congress to ensure that parents, not companies like Disney, make decisions about the collection and use of their children’s personal information online,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson wrote in a statement, per Bloomberg.
The FTC’s complaint said that Disney failed to mark some of its videos between 2020 and 2022 as “Made For Kids,” a designation that ensures data collection is turned off for children, per Deadline.
YouTube adopted the “Made For Kids” designation after a 2019 settlement with the agency for allegedly failing to receive parental consent to collect data on kids under 13 years old.
By not correctly labeling the videos, Disney allowed those videos to be targeted by online advertising, which is why the FTC sees it as problematic, per Axios.
Disney’s settlement
In the settlement, Disney conceded that it made an administrative error when categorizing some of the videos uploaded to YouTube, mostly during the pandemic, per Axios.
“Supporting the well-being and safety of kids and families is at the heart of what we do,” a Disney spokesperson said, per Axios.
“Disney has a long tradition of embracing the highest standards of compliance with children’s privacy laws, and we remain committed to investing in the tools needed to continue being a leader in this space,” the spokesperson added.