Disney will pay $10 million to settle FTC claim it used cartoons to collect YouTube data on kids

Published: Wednesday, September 3, 2025 at 2:01 am

Disney to Pay $10 Million to Settle FTC Data Privacy Claims

The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its handling of children's data on YouTube. The FTC claims Disney violated federal law by mislabeling cartoons on the platform, allowing for the illegal collection of personal information from children.

The crux of the issue lies in how Disney categorized its videos. YouTube requires content creators to designate videos as "Made for Kids" or "Not Made for Kids." This designation impacts the features available on the video, including the ability to collect personal data and serve targeted advertisements. The FTC alleges that Disney failed to properly label some of its popular children's cartoon videos, such as those featuring characters from "The Incredibles," "Toy Story," and "Frozen." Instead of individually labeling videos, Disney allegedly relied on the default channel-level designation, which resulted in some kid-friendly content being incorrectly labeled as "Not Made for Kids."

This mislabeling, according to the FTC, allowed Disney to collect data on children and serve them targeted advertisements, circumventing YouTube's restrictions designed to protect children's privacy. This practice is in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule, which mandates parental consent for collecting information from children under 13. The FTC notes that YouTube had previously informed Disney in 2020 about the incorrect labeling, and even changed the labels on over 300 of its videos. Despite this, Disney continued to upload videos with the default channel-level designation.

As part of the settlement, Disney will pay the $10 million fine, obtain parental consent for collecting data from children under 13, and implement a new program to review and accurately label videos uploaded to YouTube. This program must be maintained for the next ten years, unless YouTube develops its own system to determine the age of its users.

BNN's Perspective: This settlement underscores the importance of data privacy, particularly for children. While the fine is significant, it's crucial that Disney implements robust measures to ensure compliance with COPPA and protect children's online privacy. This case serves as a reminder to all content creators of the need for careful attention to data privacy regulations.

Keywords: Disney, FTC, YouTube, COPPA, children's data, data privacy, settlement, Made for Kids, Not Made for Kids, targeted ads, online privacy, The Incredibles, Toy Story, Frozen

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