Google reaches multimillion dollar settlement on violations of children’s privacy laws on YouTube

Google has reportedly reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission over alleged violations of children’s data privacy laws on YouTube. The settlement comes after an FTC investigation over whether the tech giant sufficiently protected the data of children using the platform, according to a Friday report from The Washington Post citing two people familiar with the matter.

In June, it was reported that Google could face fines from a late-stage investigation by the federal government into YouTube’s handling of children’s videos. That report came the same day that YouTube said it was considering significant changes to protect its youngest content creators and viewers. This could include moving all children’s content to the YouTube Kids app.

Earlier this year, the French data protection authority fined Google 50 million euros, or about $57 million, for not properly disclosing to users how data is collected across its services — including its search engine, Google Maps and YouTube — to present personalised advertisements.

SkyTG/ CNET/ Washington Post /New York Times