1,506 enforcement actions from 16 federal and state jurisdictions. Every event traced back to its official government source.
1,506
Total Actions
16
Jurisdictions
$26.6B+
Total Fines Tracked
The FTC settled with Cognosphere LLC, developer of Genshin Impact, for violating COPPA by collecting personal information from children without parental consent and for deceptive practices regarding in-game loot box purchases. The company will pay $20 million in penalties and is banned from selling loot boxes to children under 16 without verifiable parental consent.
$20.0M
The FTC settled with Cognosphere, the developer of Genshin Impact, for violating COPPA by collecting children's data without parental consent and for using deceptive loot box practices that misled players about costs and odds. Cognosphere will pay a $20 million fine, be banned from selling loot boxes to teens under 16 without parental consent, and must implement various transparency and data deletion measures.
$20.0M
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defended House Bill 1181 at the U.S. Supreme Court, which requires online pornography sites to verify users' ages to protect children from harmful content. The law was challenged by pornography distributors, but Texas won at the Fifth Circuit and is now defending its constitutionality. Texas has also sued Aylo Global Entertainment for non-compliance, leading to Pornhub's shutdown in Texas.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against TikTok for deceptively promoting its app as safe for children despite the prevalence of inappropriate and explicit content. The action alleges violations of the SCOPE Act, which protects children's online privacy, and follows a previous lawsuit regarding data privacy issues.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced investigations into 15 companies, including Character.AI, Reddit, Instagram, and Discord, for potential violations of the SCOPE Act and TDPSA concerning children's privacy. The investigations target practices such as unauthorized sharing of minors' personal data and failure to provide parental controls. This action is part of Texas's broader initiative to enforce data privacy laws.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched investigations into Character.AI and fourteen other companies, including Reddit, Instagram, and Discord, for potential violations of the SCOPE Act and TDPSA regarding children's privacy and safety. The investigations focus on unauthorized sharing of minors' data and lack of parental controls. No penalties have been imposed yet as the investigations are ongoing.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched investigations into Character.AI and 14 other companies, including Reddit, Instagram, and Discord, over potential violations of children’s privacy and safety laws. The investigations focus on compliance with the SCOPE Act and Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA), which require parental consent for sharing minors’ data and mandate notice and consent requirements for children’s personal information. No fines or remedies have been imposed as the investigations are ongoing.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a bipartisan coalition of 14 attorneys general in filing lawsuits against TikTok on October 8, 2024, alleging the platform harmed children’s mental health through addictive features and violated COPPA by collecting and monetizing data from users under 13 without parental consent. The lawsuits seek to halt TikTok’s harmful practices, impose financial penalties including disgorgement of profits from illegal practices, and secure damages for affected users. TikTok is also accused of misrepresenting the effectiveness of its safety tools and failing to warn users about harms from dangerous viral challenges and beauty filters.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against TikTok for violating the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act by sharing minors’ personal identifying information without parental consent and failing to provide parents with tools to manage their children’s account privacy settings. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation and injunctive relief to prevent future violations. TikTok is accused of prioritizing profit over the online safety and privacy of Texas children.
The FTC staff report examined data practices of nine major social media and video streaming companies and found they engaged in vast surveillance of users with lax privacy controls and inadequate safeguards for children and teens. The report recommends limiting data collection, restricting targeted advertising, and strengthening protections for young users, and calls for comprehensive federal privacy legislation.
The Federal Trade Commission filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit where parents sued IXL Learning for allegedly collecting and selling children's data without proper consent. The FTC argued that under COPPA, school district agreements to arbitration do not bind parents. The brief opposes IXL Learning's attempt to compel arbitration.
The FTC and DOJ sued TikTok and ByteDance for violating COPPA by collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. The complaint alleges that TikTok knowingly allowed millions of children on its platform and failed to comply with a 2019 consent order. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties and a permanent injunction.
NGL Labs, LLC and its founders were sued by the FTC and Los Angeles DA for marketing an anonymous messaging app to children and teens, making false claims about AI content moderation, sending fake messages to boost engagement, and violating COPPA by collecting kids' data without parental consent. They must pay $5 million, with $500,000 as a civil penalty and $4.5 million for consumer redress, and are banned from offering the app to users under 18. The order requires age gates, data deletion, and prohibits false claims about AI and recurring charges.
$500K
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced a $500,000 settlement with Tilting Point Media LLC over allegations that the company violated COPPA and the CCPA by illegally collecting and sharing children’s personal data without parental consent via its 'SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off' mobile game. The settlement requires Tilting Point to pay $500,000 in civil penalties and comply with injunctive terms including implementing neutral age screens, obtaining parental consent for children’s data collection/sharing, and maintaining an SDK governance framework. Tilting Point must also submit annual compliance reports to the California DOJ and LA City Attorney’s Office.
$500K
The FTC settled with NGL for deceptively marketing its anonymous messaging app to children and teens, using fake messages to trick users into paid subscriptions without proper consent. The order banned marketing to users under 18 and required $4.5 million in refunds for unauthorized charges.
$4.5M
Tilting Point Media LLC illegally collected and shared children's personal data in its mobile app game 'SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off' without parental consent, violating COPPA and CCPA. The settlement imposes a $500,000 civil penalty and injunctive terms to ensure compliance with children's data privacy laws.
$500K
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a settlement with Multi Media, LLC, operator of Chaturbate, for violating Texas age verification law HB 1181. The company agreed to implement an age verification service on its website to prevent minors from accessing adult content. No monetary penalty was imposed in this settlement.
The FTC has proposed amendments to the COPPA Rule to enhance children's privacy protections. Key changes include requiring separate parental consent for targeted advertising, prohibiting conditioning access on data collection, limiting push notifications, strengthening data security and retention requirements, and restricting commercial use in educational technology. The proposal shifts responsibility from parents to companies to safeguard children's data.
A coalition of 42 attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit against Meta, alleging that the company designed addictive features that harm youth mental health and violated COPPA by collecting children's data without parental consent. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, monetary penalties, and restitution.
New Jersey, leading a coalition of 41 other attorneys general, sued Meta for knowingly designing addictive Instagram and Facebook features targeting children and teens while falsely claiming the platforms were safe. The lawsuit alleges Meta collected personal data from users under 13 without parental consent, violating the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and state consumer protection laws like the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
Connecticut led a multistate settlement with JUUL Labs for $438.5 million over allegations of marketing vaping products to underage youth. The settlement funds are being directed to Regional Behavioral Health Action Organizations through new legislation to combat youth vaping, with requirements for transparency and evidence-based programs.
$438.5M
The FTC and DOJ charged Amazon with violating COPPA by indefinitely retaining children's Alexa voice recordings and failing to honor parents' deletion requests. Under a proposed consent decree, Amazon must pay $25 million, delete children's data, and implement privacy safeguards.
$25.0M
The FTC proposed modifications to its 2020 privacy order with Meta, alleging violations including non-compliance with the order, misleading parents about Messenger Kids, and unauthorized data sharing. The proposed changes include banning monetization of youth data, pausing new product launches, and strengthening privacy requirements.
Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, violated children's privacy laws by collecting data from under-13 users without parental consent and used deceptive designs to trick users into unintended purchases. The FTC secured a $275 million civil penalty and $245 million in consumer refunds, with requirements to enhance privacy defaults, delete improperly collected data, implement a privacy program, and prohibit dark patterns and account locking for charge disputes.
$275.0M
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong led 34 states and territories in a $438.5 million settlement with JUUL Labs over its youth-targeted marketing and misleading practices. The settlement includes strict injunctive terms prohibiting youth marketing, certain flavors, and requiring age verification. Funds will support tobacco cessation programs.
$438.5M
New Jersey is co-leading a multistate investigation into TikTok to determine if the platform violates consumer protection laws by using techniques that increase engagement among young users, potentially causing mental and physical harm. The investigation will examine what TikTok knows about these harms to children, teenagers, and young adults.
New Jersey is co-leading a nationwide investigation into whether Instagram and its parent company Meta Platforms, Inc. are violating state consumer protection laws by employing techniques that induce children, teenagers, and young adults to use the platform in potentially harmful ways. The bipartisan coalition of attorneys general is examining the potential mental and physical health harms resulting from extended engagement, including depression, anxiety, and body image issues.
A caseworker with the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency was charged with criminal offenses for allegedly accessing and disclosing confidential DCF database records without authorization. The charges include Computer Theft and Unlawful Access and Disclosure. The investigation was conducted by the New Jersey State Police.
The FTC removed Aristotle International, Inc. from its list of approved COPPA Safe Harbor programs due to insufficient monitoring of member companies' compliance with COPPA guidelines. This action prevents operators from using Aristotle's program for favorable regulatory treatment and marks the first such removal since COPPA's inception.
The FTC settled with Kuuhuub Inc., operator of the Recolor coloring book app, for violating COPPA by collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. The app's social media features allowed children to register and share data, and third-party ad networks collected persistent identifiers for targeted ads. The settlement requires deletion of children's data, refunds to underage subscribers, a $3 million penalty (suspended upon $100,000 payment), and user notifications about the violations.
$3.0M
All data sourced from official government enforcement pages.