FTC: Microsoft to Pay $20 Million over Charges It Illegally Collected Personal Information from Children without Their Parents’ Consent on Xbox

[Tsing]

The FTC has announced that Microsoft will be paying $20 million to settle charges that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by "collecting personal information from children who signed up to its Xbox gaming system without notifying their parents or obtaining their parents’ consent, and by illegally retaining children’s personal information." According to the original complaint, which was filed by the Department of Justice on June 5, 2023, Microsoft collected information from users even if they had explicitly told the company that they were under 13. Players who are under the age of 13 will now need to ask their parents to reverify their accounts, Xbox explained in a blog post about how it's "reimagining the future of safety on Xbox."

See full article...

 

[Ditchinit]

Should have been 100x that penalty to send a message that collecting personal data is not OK. As is, the penalty is not even a slap on the wrist and is the equivalent of couch change for Microsoft.

 

[Grimlakin]

The question is has Microsoft effectively monetized the data in question for a value in excess of 20 million.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

The question is has Microsoft effectively monetized the data in question for a value in excess of 20 million.

If they haven't then whoever is in charge of it should've been let go already. These days I'd imagine it should be pretty easy to convert into some kind of revenue or compensatory value. Not by any means condoning it. Just saying.