Child Online Protection Act COPPA Federal Trade Commission FTC privacy
FTC Announces Settlement with RockYou Over Security Flaws, COPPA Violations
The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with the social game site RockYou over charges that the site's poor security allowed hackers to access the personal information of 32 million users. The FTC also alleged that RockYou violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule by knowingly collecting approximately 179,000 children's email addresses and associated passwords without the consent of their parents. The settlement prohibits future deceptive claims by the company regarding privacy and data security and future violations of the COPPA Rule, and requires the company to implement a data security program and to pay a $250,000 civil penalty. Last year, the FTC proposed new COPPA rules to better protect children, about which EPIC submitted comments. For more information, see EPIC: Children’s Online Privacy and EPIC: FTC.
March 27, 2012| Share:
