Lawsuit accusing YouTube of tracking children back after appeal
Lawsuit accusing YouTube of tracking children back after appeal
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An appeals court has revived a lawsuit accusing Google, YouTube, DreamWorks and a handful of toy makers of tracking the YouTube activity of children under 13. In an opinion released Wednesday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act does not bar suits based on individual state privacy laws. p>
Passed in 1998 and amended in 2012, COPPA requires websites to obtain parental consent for the collection and dissemination of personally identifiable information about children under 13. COPPA gives the FTC and state attorneys general the ability to investigate and issue fines. for violation of law.
Several states in the United States have adopted laws similar to COPPA. The revived lawsuit cites laws from California, Colorado, Indiana and Massachusetts to claim that Hasbro, DreamWorks, Mattel and Cartoon Network unlawfully lured children to their YouTube channels in order to target them with ads. /p>
A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed the original lawsuit, ruling that COPPA prohibits individuals from suing companies for breaches of privacy. In a unanimous decision, the Ninth Circuit judges hearing the appeal disagreed with the district court's reasoning. COPPA is not, in fact, the only avenue of enforcement, according to the ruling.
"Since the prohibition of "inconsistent" state laws implicitly preserves "consistent" state substantive laws, it would be absurd to assume that Congress intends to simultaneously exclude all state remedies for violation of these laws,” Judge Margaret McKeown wrote.
This isn't the first time YouTube has faced legal issues over how it handles children's data. The Alphabet subsidiary was fined $170 million by the FTC and the New York State Attorney General in 2019 for violating COPPA.
The case, which seeks damages for a period of seven years between 2013 and 2020, now returns to the district court.
An appeals court has revived a lawsuit accusing Google, YouTube, DreamWorks and a handful of toy makers of tracking the YouTube activity of children under 13. In an opinion released Wednesday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act does not bar suits based on individual state privacy laws. p>
Passed in 1998 and amended in 2012, COPPA requires websites to obtain parental consent for the collection and dissemination of personally identifiable information about children under 13. COPPA gives the FTC and state attorneys general the ability to investigate and issue fines. for violation of law.
Several states in the United States have adopted laws similar to COPPA. The revived lawsuit cites laws from California, Colorado, Indiana and Massachusetts to claim that Hasbro, DreamWorks, Mattel and Cartoon Network unlawfully lured children to their YouTube channels in order to target them with ads. /p>
A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed the original lawsuit, ruling that COPPA prohibits individuals from suing companies for breaches of privacy. In a unanimous decision, the Ninth Circuit judges hearing the appeal disagreed with the district court's reasoning. COPPA is not, in fact, the only avenue of enforcement, according to the ruling.
"Since the prohibition of "inconsistent" state laws implicitly preserves "consistent" state substantive laws, it would be absurd to assume that Congress intends to simultaneously exclude all state remedies for violation of these laws,” Judge Margaret McKeown wrote.
This isn't the first time YouTube has faced legal issues over how it handles children's data. The Alphabet subsidiary was fined $170 million by the FTC and the New York State Attorney General in 2019 for violating COPPA.
The case, which seeks damages for a period of seven years between 2013 and 2020, now returns to the district court.
Enlarge
Ute Grabowsky/Getty Images
