Microsoft will have to pay $20 million to end a lawsuit triggered by the collection of personal data from minors, the US Consumer Protection Agency (FTC) said in a statement released Monday, June 5.
The agency accuses Microsoft of having collected and stored the personal data of minors under the age of 13, who registered on the Xbox console’s online gaming platform without informing their parents, between 2015 and 2020. FTC considers that the American giant “broke the law” which requires online services and websites aimed at children under the age of 13 to inform parents of the personal information they collect and to obtain their consent.
This law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), has been in effect in the United States since 1998.
“Strengthen the protection of children’s privacy”
“The ruling we’re proposing makes it easier for parents to protect their children’s data privacy on Xbox and limits the information Microsoft can collect and maintain about minors,” said Samuel Levine, director of the Office of Consumer Protection. from the FTC, and quoted in the press release.
“Microsoft will have to take several measures to strengthen the protection of the privacy of children using its Xbox system”, underlines the American agency in its press release.
A Microsoft spokesperson, interviewed by Agence France Presse (AFP), assured that the American giant “undertook to comply with the decision” of the FTC and that it would develop a new identification system for of young audiences.
The decision must be approved by a federal court before it can take effect.
