PUBLISHED:14:08 EST, 4 October 2012| UPDATED:14:09 EST, 4 October 2012
The company that makes fan websites for such tween favorites as Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Rihanna has agreed to pay $1million to settle charges that it illegally collected data about more than 100,000 children.
The Federal Trade Commission, in a complaint filed Tuesday, had accused Artist Arena LLC of failing to get parental consent before collecting data like names and email addresses of children.
FTC spokeswoman Claudia Bourne Farrell said the company agreed to settle for $1million. The settlement must be approved by a judge, she added.
Trouble: The company that makes fan websites for Justin Bieber and other pop stars has agreed to pay $1million dsying it illegally collected data about more than 100,000 children
The company maintained the websites RihannaNow.com, DemiLovatoFanClub.net, BieberFever.com and SelenaGomez.com, and improperly collected data from an estimated 101,000 children aged 12 and under, according to the FTC complaint.
Under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), websites are required to give special treatment to children aged 12 or younger. Sites must get parental permission before collecting information about the children.
Fans: Rihanna’s website also contributed to the collection of children’s information
When tested after the ruling, children under the age of 12 were no longer able to register to become members of ‘Bieber Fever’ as prompted on the artist’s website.
The FTC is in the process of updating the rules to further restrict companies and Web sites that target youths or are geared to young audiences.
This case comes two months after Google had to pay a record $22.5million fine to settle allegations that it broke a privacy promise by secretly tracking millions of Web surfers who use Apple’s Safari browser.
In spite of their hefty payout, Google did not admit to any wrongdoing in the latest settlement as they claim that the fine does not directly pertain to Google’s data collection, but for misrepresenting what was happening.
The FTC opened its investigation into the Safari activities six months prior to the fine after a researcher at Stanford University revealed that Google had overridden Safari safeguards that are supposed to prevent outside parties from monitoring Web surfing activity without a user’s permission.
The tracking occurs through snippets of computer coding, known as cookies, that help Internet services and advertisers target marketing pitches based on an analysis of the interests implied by a person’s Web surfing activity.
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