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The Federal Trade Commission in the US is fining Google’s video site YouTube 136 million dollars (£111 million) to settle allegations it collected children’s personal data without their parents’ consent.
Google will pay an additional 34 million dollars (£27.9 million) to New York state to resolve similar allegations brought by the state’s attorney general.
Check out this infographic on major privacy judgments against Google: pic.twitter.com/LfM9CG2oVp
— FTC (@FTC) September 4, 2019
The fine marks the largest the FTC has levelled against Google, although it is dwarfed by the five billion dollar (£4.1 billion) fine the agency imposed against fellow tech giant Facebook earlier this year for privacy violations.
The FTC found that YouTube violated a law that requires parental consent before companies can collect children’s personal information.
YouTube has said its service is intended for ages 13 and older, although younger children commonly watch videos on the site and many popular YouTube channels feature cartoons or singalongs made for children.
