TikTok (Photo: Courtesy Photo)FTC Hits Musical.ly With Record-Setting $5.7M Fine Over COPPA Violations
Musical.ly, also known as TikTok, has been hit with the highest-ever FTC penalty for COPPA violations. The FTC alleged Musical.ly collected young children's data without parental consent.
February 27, 2019 at 03:16 PM
3 minute read
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a record-setting fine in a settlement with Musical.ly Wednesday, alleging the social media platform violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
The $5.7 million penalty is the largest the FTC has issued over COPPA violations. Musical.ly, also known as TikTok, is alleged to have collected children's personal data without parental consent. An email address, phone number, full name, username, a profile picture and a short bio are required to sign up for Musical.ly's app.
Prior to 2017, the company didn't ask users' ages or prevent those under 13 from creating accounts. Under COPPA, companies must obtain parental consent when collecting personal data from children under 13. Musical.ly didn't retroactively check users' ages after updating its policy.
“The operators of Musical.ly—now known as TikTok—knew many children were using the app, but they still failed to seek parental consent before collecting names, email addresses, and other personal information from users under the age of 13,” said FTC chairman Joe Simons in a press release Wednesday. “This record penalty should be a reminder to all online services and websites that target children: We take enforcement of COPPA very seriously, and we will not tolerate companies that flagrantly ignore the law.”
The FTC also expressed concern with Musical.ly's default “public” setting for videos shared by users, claiming it allowed adult users to see children's online bios and information. Musical.ly's app also allows users to direct message others on the platform.
Musical.ly announced Wednesday it will now split users into “age appropriate TikTok environments,” following FTC guidelines for apps that target adults and children. TikTok's section for children does not include user's personal information and restricts content and user interaction on the platform. The changes will impact new users and those already on the platform, Musical.ly said.
“While we've always seen TikTok as a place for everyone, we understand the concerns that arise around younger users,” Musical.ly representatives wrote in a blog post Wednesday.
“In working with the FTC and in conjunction with today's agreement, we've now implemented changes to accommodate younger U.S. users in a limited, separate app experience that introduces additional safety and privacy protections designed specifically for this audience,” the blog post continued. Musical.ly declined to provide additional comment.
The FTC's settlement with Musical.ly comes less than a week after children's advocacy groups filed a complaint about another social media platform's alleged COPPA violations.
On Feb. 21, advocacy groups urged the FTC to investigate Facebook's alleged practice of allowing children to complete in-app purchases in games on the platform, sometimes spending thousands of dollars without their parents' consent. Apple and Google previously faced similar COPPA violation complaints.
Read More:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
How Marsh McLennan's Small But Mighty Legal Innovation Team Builds Solutions That Bring Joy
Aggressive FTC May Force Merging Companies to Bolster Legal Defenses
4 minute read
Best Legal Departments: How Blackstone's Legal and Compliance Team Got the All-Clear to Grow Business
CEOs Want Data-Based Risk Management; GCs Lack the Tech to Do So.
Trending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
