Sony Music
has agreed
to pay $1m as part of a settlement to resolve US Federal Trade
Commission charges that it violated the Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The commission had claimed that Sony had violated COPPA through
its music fan websites, as Sony Music improperly collected,
maintained and disclosed personal information from thousands of
children under the age of 13 without their parents' consent.
The civil penalty to be paid by Sony Music matches the largest
penalty ever in a COPPA case.
The company operates over 1,000 websites for its musical artists
and labels. Sony Music requires users to submit a broad range of
personal information, together with date of birth, in order to
register for these sites.
On 196 of these sites, Sony Music knowingly collected personal
information from at least 30,000 underage children without first
obtaining their parents' consent, in violation of COPPA, said the
FTC.
Many of these sites also enable children to create personal fan
pages, review artists' albums, upload photos or videos, post
comments on message boards and in online forums, and engage in
private messaging.
In this way, children were able to interact with Sony Music fans
of all ages, including adults.
"Sites with social networking features, like any websites, need
to get parental consent before collecting kids' personal
information," said FTC chairman William Kovacic. "Sony Music is
paying the penalty for falling down on its COPPA obligations."