Epic Games to pay $520M over FTC allegations of privacy violations

The FTC announced today it will fine Fortnite maker Epic Games $520 millions over FTC allegations of violating children’s privacy law and for tricking users into making unintentional charges.

According to the FTC, Epic Games will pay $275 million for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection (COPPA) rule, which limits the amount of info that websites and online services can obtain about children 13 and younger. The FTC said Epic Games “collected personal data from children without first obtaining parents’ verifiable consent.” Also, Epic will now be forced to offer better privacy default settings for minors which will make sure that, for example, voice and text communications are turned off by default. This setting will make sure children don’t get bullied or harassed while playing.

Epic has to delete information obtained via Fortnite that violates COPPA rules unless parents give the company consent to retain the information.

Under another settlement, Epic will pay $245 million to compensate customers for its shady billing practices. The FTC says Epic Games used dark patterns to make users do purchases, charged account holders without parental authorization (which allowed children to make purchases without consent), and blocked access to purchased content of people who disputed unauthorized charges.

[Source]: FTC: Fortnite Video Game Maker Epic Games to Pay More Than Half a Billion Dollars over FTC Allegations of Privacy Violations and Unwanted Charges – [Archive] – [Screenshot].