 Monday, 06 September 2010 |
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> Sony Music fined $1 million in US for collecting children’s personal data in breach of COPPA
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Sony Music fined $1 million in US for collecting children’s personal data in breach of COPPA
On 11 December, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Sony BMG Music Entertainment with violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Sony has been ordered to pay $1 million civil penalty, as well as delete all personal information collected from children under 13 without parental consent.
Sony BMG Music Entertainment operates over 1,000 websites for its music labels and artists. On these sites, users are asked to submit a broad range of personal information together with date of birth, in order to register. On 196 of these sites, Sony collected personal information from around 30,000 underage children without first obtaining parental consent, in violation of COPPA.
Some of these sites also allow children to create personal fan pages, review artists’ albums, upload photos or videos and engage in private messaging with other Sony Music fans, including adults. The FTC Chairman, William Kovacic said that “Sites with social networking features, like any websites, need to get parental consent before collecting kids’ personal information”.
How to have your website comply with COPPA:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/idtheft/bus45.shtm
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