Penalty Amount
$10,000,000
The FTC settled with Disney for violating the COPPA Rule by mislabeling videos on YouTube, which allowed the collection of children's personal data without parental consent. Disney must pay a $10 million civil penalty and implement measures to ensure proper video labeling and compliance with COPPA.
Disney must pay a $10 million civil penalty, comply with COPPA by notifying parents and obtaining verifiable parental consent before collecting children's data, and establish a program to review whether videos posted to YouTube should be designated as 'Made for Kids'.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor agreements with online platforms (e.g., YouTube, social media, streaming services) and customer agreements for any child-directed services or content. Specifically, examine clauses related to data labeling responsibilities (e.g., 'Made for Kids' or equivalent designations), consent mechanisms for children's data, prohibitions on targeted advertising to children, data processing and sharing restrictions, and audit rights. Contracts must be updated to explicitly require partners to comply with COPPA labeling obligations, implement robust parental consent flows, and prohibit the use of children's data for ad targeting. Data processing addendums (DPAs) should incorporate COPPA-specific safeguards and require certification of compliance.
Entity
Disney Worldwide Services, Inc. and Disney Entertainment Operations LLC
Also known as: Disney
Industry
Media & EntertainmentOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/court-approves-order-requiring-disney-pay-10-million-settle-ftc-allegations-firm-enabled-unlawful
DisneyComplaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/DisneyComplaint.pdf
disney timeline item 2025 12 31
https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/disney-timeline-item-2025-12-31
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Disney Worldwide Services, Inc. and Disney Entertainment Operations LLC"
"$10 million"
"Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule)"
"violated the COPPA Rule by failing to properly label some videos that it uploaded to YouTube as 'Made for Kids' (MFK)"
$10.0M
The FTC alleges that Disney violated COPPA by failing to properly label children-directed videos on YouTube as 'Made for Kids,' allowing the collection of personal data from children under 13 without parental consent. Disney will pay a $10 million civil penalty and must implement a program to ensure accurate video designations, potentially incorporating age assurance technologies.
$12.0M
The FTC alleged that payment processor Humboldt Merchant Services knowingly processed payments for more than 1,000 shell merchant entities serving as fronts for fraudulent companies engaged in unauthorized billing scams, despite red flags including chargeback rates nearly 10 times higher than card-brand thresholds. Under the proposed stipulated order filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Humboldt will pay $12 million for consumer redress and is permanently banned from processing payments for merchants with a heightened risk of potential fraud.
$4.8M
The FTC charged Canada-based payment processor Nuvei Corporation and its subsidiaries with knowingly processing payments for fraudulent merchants, including more than $30 million in payments for the Reimage tech support scam from 2017 to 2023, as well as merchants making false earnings claims and impersonating government tax authorities. Under the stipulated order filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Nuvei will pay $4.85 million for consumer redress, is banned from serving tech support telemarketers, and must implement robust merchant screening and chargeback monitoring practices. Note: this is a payments-fraud facilitation action under the FTC Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule, not a data privacy violation.
The FTC announced a seven-day extension of the public comment period on its proposed enforcement policy statement regarding personalized pricing, pushing the deadline from Sept. 18, 2026 to Sept. 25, 2026. Personalized pricing refers to using personal data to set prices based on what the company believes an individual consumer is willing to spend. This is a procedural announcement about draft agency guidance, not an enforcement action against any company, and no entity was named, no violation found, and no penalty imposed.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined the FTC and 22 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Amazon for manipulating the auctions used to set advertising prices, replacing actual auction results with higher prices since 2019 and overcharging nearly 1.2 million U.S. advertising customers. The FTC estimates total improper surcharges from 2018 to 2026 exceed $20 billion, with costs ultimately passed to shoppers through higher prices. The states seek a permanent injunction and monetary relief; no penalty has been imposed yet as this is a newly filed complaint.
$930K
The FTC finalized orders requiring CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group), MindSift LLC, and 1010 Digital Works LLC to pay a total of $930,000 for falsely claiming they offered an AI-powered service that could target ads based on conversations captured from consumers' smart devices, and that consumers had opted into such targeting. The orders also prohibit the companies from making misrepresentations about their advertising services, voice data collection, and consumer consent.