Google to pay up to US$200 million to settle investigation into alleged violations of children’s privacy by YouTube
- Move comes as the US Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on Silicon Valley privacy violations
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Margaret Harding McGill on politico.com on August 30, 2019.
Google has agreed to pay between US$150 million and US$200 million to resolve a Federal Trade Commission investigation into YouTube over alleged violations of a children’s privacy law, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The FTC voted 3-2 along party lines to approve the settlement, sending it over to the Justice Department as part of the review process, the person confirmed. Details about other terms of the settlement were not immediately available.
The industry has more broadly seen its fortunes sour in Washington, as President Donald Trump and associates, Democratic presidential candidates and lawmakers of both parties have all pilloried tech for its perceived failures to stem hate speech, extremism, privacy flaps, alleged bias and a wealth of other ills. Many of those same critics dinged the FTC over the Facebook penalties, calling into question both the impact of the US$5 billion sum on the moneyed social media giant and the efficacy of the settlement terms.
Privacy groups had complained to the FTC that YouTube violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal information about minors and using it to target advertisements without getting consent from parents.
