Penalty Amount
$98,618
Consumers Affected
24,000
Unixiz, Inc. agreed to shut down its i-Dressup teen social website and pay $98,618 in civil penalties to settle allegations that it violated COPPA by collecting personal information from over 2,500 New Jersey children without parental consent and failed to safeguard user data, leading to a 2016 data breach affecting more than 24,000 New Jersey residents.
Unixiz must permanently shut down the i-Dressup website, implement systems to obtain verifiable parental consent, allow parents to review and revoke consent, establish data security policies, and pay $98,618 in civil penalties, with $64,618 suspended for two years upon compliance.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor, customer, and data processing agreements, particularly those involving services directed at minors or handling user data. Focus on clauses governing data collection from children, consent mechanisms (especially verifiable parental consent), data security obligations, breach notification requirements, and data retention/deletion policies. Given the allegations of collecting children's data without consent and failing to safeguard it leading to a breach, contracts must be updated to mandate strict COPPA compliance, implement robust security protocols, require timely breach notifications, and provide parents with clear rights to review and revoke consent.
Entity
Unixiz, Inc.
Also known as: Unixiz
Industry
Social MediaOfficial Press Release
https://www.njoag.gov/operator-of-teen-social-website-breached-by-hacker-agrees-to-close-site-and-reform-practices-to-settle-allegations-it-violated-childrens-online-privacy-protection-act/
New Jersey Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.njoag.gov/about/divisions-and-offices/division-of-consumer-affairs/
"Unixiz, Inc., the company that owned and operated the online social website “i-Dressup”"
"civil penalties in the amount of $98,618"
"violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)"
"and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act"
"failing to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting and processing children’s personal information"
"failing to adequately safeguard user information"
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