Disney fined $10M for tracking children under 13 online

A federal judge has greenlit a $10 million settlement agreement between Disney and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for collecting the personal data of children through YouTube videos.

In a complaint filed in September 2025, the antitrust agency accused Disney of collecting personal data from children under the age of 13 without notifying their parents or obtaining their consent, as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The entertainment company was able to do this because it failed to properly label videos that were uploaded to YouTube. Instead of labeling them “made for kids” (MFK), all Disney videos were labelled “not made for kids” (NMFK).

Additionally, Disney opted to mark all its videos uploaded to YouTube at the channel level, rather than labeling each video individually. All of these videos were labeled as NMFK, allowing Disney to collect personal information from kids and offer personalized ads, thus skipping privacy rules that were designed to protect children.

The FTC imposed a fine of $10 million to settle the case.

“Today was a big win for parents, who shouldn’t have to worry about whether their kids are being illegally surveilled online or being exposed to age-inappropriate videos,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a post on X.

The settlement agreement between Disney and the FTC was finalized by a federal judge last week, the FTC said in a press release.

The settlement order not only requires Disney to pay $10 million, but also to establish and implement a program to review whether videos posted to YouTube should be labelled as made for kids or not made for kids.

Lastly, Disney is forced to comply with the COPPA Rule by notifying parents before collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 and obtaining verifiable parental consent for the collection and use of that data.

“Disney has a long tradition of embracing the highest standards of compliance with children’s privacy laws, and we remain committed to investing in the tools needed to continue being a leader in this space,” a Disney spokesperson said in response to the ruling.