Sony Violates Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
The Federal Trade Commission has reported that Sony BMG Music Entertainment will pay a $1,000,000 penalty, the largest to date, for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The case alleges that Sony knowingly collected personal information from children under the age of 13 on 196 websites without their parents’ consent.
COPPA regulations state that it will:
(A) require the operator of any website or online service directed to children that collects personal information from children or the operator of a website or online service that has actual knowledge that it is collecting personal information from a child—
(i) to provide notice on the website of what information is collected from children by the operator, how the operator uses such information, and the operator’s disclosure practices for such information; and
(ii) to obtain verifiable parental consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information from children;
Reading this makes me wonder if this was an ethical dilemma at Sony — “do we continue and hope to not get caught?”
Read the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.
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