Microsoft has agreed to pay $20M to settle a claim by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it illegally collected and retained data of underage Xbox users without parents' consent. The company was accused of violating the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. According to the FTC, Microsoft illegally gathered and held onto the personal data of users under the age of 13 who signed up for an Xbox account. - Microsoft attributed the issue to a "data retention glitch" and committed to strengthening its systems.
- Under the settlement, the company will delete any children's data collected without parental consent and notify third-party video game publishers about the data if users are underage.
- In a blog post, the company outlined changes it's already made, including updating its account creation process to require date of birth first.
- The order requires federal court approval before it can take effect.
Microsoft's Minecraft has been particularly popular among young people. It claims over 141 million active players worldwide. - Other companies, such as Amazon, Google, and TikTok, have also faced FTC penalties for collecting children's data without parental consent.
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