This archive report was first published on 4 September 2019.
On September 4, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $170 million fine against YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc, for allegedly collecting personal information about children without parental consent.
According to the FTC, YouTube used cookies to track viewers of children's channels and then used those cookies to deliver billions in targeted advertisements.
YouTube's actions were in violation of a federal law banning the collection of information about children under 13 years old, which was first introduced in 1998 and revised in 2013 to include cookies.
FTC Chairman Joe Simons stated, 'YouTube touted its popularity with children to prospective corporate clients. Yet when it came to complying with (federal law banning collecting data on children), the company refused to acknowledge that portions of its platform were clearly directed to kids.'
New York Attorney General Letitia James added, 'Google and YouTube knowingly and illegally monitored, tracked, and served targeted ads to young children just to keep advertising dollars rolling in.'
YouTube responded to the fine by stating that it would 'limit data collection and use on videos made for kids only to what is needed to support the operation of the service.'
The video service also plans to introduce YouTube Kids for children according to their age brackets and exclude 'disturbing videos.'
