EUVD-2017-17809

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DoJ and FTC Sue TikTok for Violating Children's Privacy Laws

The U.S. Department of Justice DoJ, along with the Federal Trade Commission FTC, filed a lawsuit against popular video-sharing platform TikTok for "flagrantly violating" children's privacy laws in the country. The agencies claimed the company knowingly permitted children to create TikTok accounts...

TikTok facing fresh lawsuit in US over children’s privacy

The Federal Trade Commission FTC has announced its referred a complaint against TikTok and parent company ByteDance to the Department of Justice. The investigation originally focused on Musical.ly which was acquired by ByteDance on November 10, 2017, and merged it into TikTok. The FTC started a...

Data brokers admit they’re selling information on precise location, kids, and reproductive healthcare

Information newly made available under California law has shed light on data broker practices, including exactly what categories of information they trade in. Any business that meets the definition of data broker must register with the California Privacy Protection Agency CPPA annually. The CPPA...

Congress Sure Made a Lot of Noise About Kids’ Privacy in 2023—and Not Much Else

Members of the US Congress touted improvements to children’s privacy protections as an urgent priority. So why didn’t they do anything about it?...

Microsoft illegally collected and retained children's data, says FTC

Microsoft is counting the cost of privacy violations, with $20m in fines related to illegal data collection from childrens Xbox accounts. The Xbox manufacturer has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commision FTC, a result which promises to have other console developers looking closely a...

FTC Slams Amazon with $30.8M Fine for Privacy Violations Involving Alexa and Ring

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission FTC has fined Amazon a cumulative $30.8 million over a series of privacy lapses regarding its Alexa assistant and Ring security cameras. This comprises a $25 million penalty for breaching children's privacy laws by retaining their Alexa voice recordings for...

TikTok faces $28m fine for failing to protect children's privacy

TikTok is no stranger to controversy where data usage is concerned. Back in 2021, the social media dance extravaganza platform agreed to pay $92m to settle dozens of lawsuits alleging harvesting of personal data. There has also been concern with regard to whether or not settings were enough to ke...

Controversial Kids' Code aims to keep children safe online

California has passed a bill designed to make the internet a safer place for children. The bill, commonly referred to as the "Kids Code", has been passed by the State Senate. If signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it will spring into life. What is it, and how is it designed to help children be safe...

Are you sharing your address on social media?

Do you share your full address on social media? No, of course not, or at least I hope you are not. But are you sharing enough information for someone to work out your address? Maybe! Over time we share seemingly small amounts of information that put together could allow attackers to find your...

FTC Slams Children’s App Developer for COPPA Violations

Children’s app developer HyperBeard has agreed to pay $150,000 after being accused by the Federal Trade Commission FTC of illegally collecting children’s data without parental consent. HyperBeard‘s website says it’s the largest mobile game developer and publisher in Mexico, with various games suc...

TikTok Violated Children’s Privacy Law, FTC Complaint Says

The popular video sharing app TikTok has landed in hot water again over privacy issues. On Thursday, a group of privacy advocates filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission FTC alleging the platform failed to adequately protect children’s privacy. The complaint alleged that TikTok violat...

FTC Cracks Down on Stalkerware With Retina-X App Bans

UPDATE The Federal Trade Commission FTC has barred the sale of three “stalking apps” until their developer can prove they are used legally. The case is the first crackdown by the FTC on “stalkerware,” which is software that can be installed on devices to track their owners’ location, activity and...

YouTube ordered to cough up $170M settlement over COPPA infraction

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission FTC announced that it has required Google and YouTube to pay a settlement fee totaling $170 million after its video-sharing platform was found violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act COPPA. The complaint was filed by the FTC and the New York...

Security Vulnerabilities Are Increasingly Putting Kids at Risk

LAS VEGAS – IoT devices are increasingly coming into the hands of children – from connected watches, to Amazon Echo smart speakers – but security experts worry that these are opening up children’s data to future privacy breaches. The latest example of this fear was seen at Black Hat 2019, where...

Kid-Focused Apps Track Location, UK Spying, and More Security News This Week

In security news this week, some apps for children may violate privacy laws, State Department devices might be less secure than your Instagram account, and more...

FBI: Smart toys could harm children’s privacy and physical safety

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has recently issued a Public Service Announcement PSA, encouraging consumers—parents, in particular—to think twice before purchasing internet-connected toys. Smart toys and entertainment devices for kids are part of the Internet of Things, and as such, they hav...

RockYou Agrees to $250K FTC Fine Over Loss Of 32m Passwords

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it had reached a settlement with RockYou over violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act COPPA after the Web site allowed hackers to gain access to the personal information of its 32 million members. In a statement published o...

FTC Aims to Overhaul Children's Privacy Rights

In hopes of revamping a law that was implemented over a decade ago, the Federal Trade Commission began to seek public comment this week on proposed revisions of rules that govern the privacy rights of children online. In effect since 2000, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 COPP...