On January 8, 2018, the FTC announced that VTech Electronics Limited and its US subsidiary (VTech) agreed to settle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a claim that the companies violated children’s privacy through the commercialization of some connected toys.
Allegedly VTech violated COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998) by collecting personal information from children without providing direct notice to their parents and without obtaining their consent. They also failed to take reasonable steps to secure the data they collected.
VTech agreed to pay $650,000 as part of the settlement with the FTC. In addition, VTech is permanently prohibited from violating COPPA in the future and from misrepresenting its security and privacy practices as part of the proposed settlement. It is also required to implement a comprehensive data security program, which will be subject to independent audits for 20 years.
FTC’s complaint is available at https://www.ftc.gov…
FTC’s Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Civil Penalty Judgment is available at https://www.ftc.gov…
The FTC’s press release regarding this complaint and settlement is available at https://www.ftc.gov…
For more information on your company’s privacy compliance, contact us.
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