Microsoft has To Pay $20 Million To Settle Illegal Collection Of Children’s Data Online
Meta: Microsoft will reportedly pay $20 for collecting and holding children’s data without any notice or their consent
Breaking!
The largest computer software vendor Microsoft is about to pay a $20 million fine. The famous software company was charged by the US Federal Trade Commission under the lawsuit of illegally collecting data from children users and retaining it.
Microsoft has allegedly collected and retained data of child users who signed up to play their XBOX video gaming console. According to the charges brought to them, Microsoft had not taken the children’s consent or notified their parents while taking and retaining these data. The software company also illegally stored the data, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. This was the statement made by the US FTC or the Federal Trade Commission.
Microsoft corporate vice president Dave McCarthy has stated in a blog post that the organization is working to improve the age verification system. As per their claim, this process will prove the parents’ involvement in creating those children’s IDs for the service.
Dave also added that the company had soon identified and solved a technical glitch. Apparently, this glitch failed the system to delete the children’s account that never finished the process.
The Microsoft policy was to hold the children’s data for the account for only 14 days. This would have allowed the children to finish their account creation right from where they had left off initially. However, according to FTC, this statement still needs approval from a federal court before it is in effect.
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