Artist Arena Fined $1 Million For Violating Children's Privacy Law
Warner Music Group's Artist Arena has agreed to pay $1 million to settle charges that it violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting names, email addresses and other personal information from children younger than 13, the Federal Trade Commission announced on Wednesday.
Artist Arena allegedly gathered the information at fan sites for Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez. The company, which also offered newsletter subscriptions, allegedly registered thousands of children who said they were under 13 when they signed up for the service.
COPPA prohibits Web site operators from knowingly collecting personal information from children 12 and under without their parents' consent.
While some of the fan sites appeared to have procedures for obtaining parental consent, those procedures were inadequate, according to the FTC's complaint, filed this week in federal court in New York.
For instance, the company asked children who registered for the Selena Gomez newsletter for their parents' email addresses. Artist Arena then emailed that address to ask the parents to click on a link approve the subscription. But the messages allegedly told parents that if they didn't click on that link, their child's subscription wouldn't go through. In fact, the company "had already registered the child and allowed the child to complete his or her profile without any action by the parent," the FTC said in its complaint.
The settlement agreement also calls for Artist Arena to destroy any information that was improperly collected from children. The agreement still must be approved by a judge.
Recent Online Media Daily Articles
-
FTC's Ohlhausen Questions Privacy Recommendations May 21, 6:05 p.m.
The Federal Trade Commission's 2012 privacy recommendations could unintentionally disadvantage smaller online ad companies, Commissioner Maureen ... -
Subway's Comedy Promotes Brand, Content Strategy May 21, 2:43 p.m.
Setting a new bar for brands and their programming aspirations, Subway’s scripted comedy series, "The 4 ... -
Future of Social, Digital Shops In Doubt May 21, 1:48 p.m.
Companies talk a lot about fully integrated marketing strategies. One result may be the demise of ... -
Google+ Needs Android To Climb Out Of Experimental Phase May 20, 9:24 p.m.
Marketers continue to view Google+ as a fledgling network requiring experimentation, although the company released a ... -
AOL, Support.Com Settle Scareware Lawsuit For $8.5 Million May 20, 5:20 p.m.
Web company AOL and software vendor Support.com will pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought ... -
Gmail Hangouts Disable Google Voice May 20, 3:23 p.m.
Google's new version of Hangouts for Gmail eliminates Google Voice features. The move is frustrating heavy ... -
Digital Boost: Ziff Davis Acquires NetShelter May 20, 3:19 p.m.
Ziff Davis on Monday announced the acquisition of content network NetShelter from ad platform inPowered. Financial ... -
LikeableAds.com Launches, With Focus On Social Media Ads May 20, 3:04 p.m.
To keep up with growing demand from Madison Avenue, the social marketing consultants at Likeable Media ... -
Yahoo To Ramp 'Native' Ads On Tumblr May 20, 1:37 p.m.
With its $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr, Yahoo on Monday made clear that it plans to ... -
Gigya Improves Marketing, Adds 21 Social, Tech Partners May 20, 9:15 a.m.
Social services startup Gigya on Monday is expected to announce the addition of 21 social and ...
Be the first to comment on "Artist Arena Fined $1 Million For Violating Children's Privacy Law "
Leave a Comment