Google will pay $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of violating children’s privacy on YouTube, according to Reuters.
The lawsuit alleged that Google illegally collected data from children under the age of 13 who watched YouTube videos, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). While data collection is a standard practice across tech platforms, COPPA makes it unlawful to track or store data from children without parental consent.
Google has agreed to the settlement but continues to deny wrongdoing.
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As many as 45 million U.S. residents could be eligible for small payments from the settlement. The class action covers anyone who watched YouTube while under the age of 13 between July 1, 2013 and April 1, 2020.
