FTC fines Microsoft $20M for alleged COPPA violations

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced a USD20 million fine against Microsoft for alleged Children's Online Privacy Protection Act violations related to its Xbox gaming system. The FTC claimed Microsoft did not obtain parental consent for Xbox account data collection on users under age 13 before carrying out the collection. Corrective actions in the proposed order, which is subject to federal court approval, call on Microsoft to obtain parental consent for any outstanding nonconsensual Xbox accounts and stand up a data deletion program. FTC Senior Attorney Lesley Fair wrote a guidance blog offering further details and insights into the decision.