A U.S. appeals court has allowed a lawsuit to proceed that alleges that Google, YouTube, DreamWorks, and several toy manufacturers unlawfully tracked the online activity of children under 13 on YouTube. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) does not prevent lawsuits based on state privacy laws. COPPA, which was enacted in 1998 and amended in 2012, requires websites to obtain consent from a child’s parent or guardian before collecting or sharing personally identifiable information of children under 13. The law gives the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general the authority to investigate and impose penalties for any violations of COPPA.
Watch this lawsuit carefully. It is not only going to show us the strength of COPPA – it will shine a bright light on a problem that has been hiding in plain sight since the commercialization of the web.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.