YouTube fined $170 million for child privacy violations

(NBC News) – YouTube has agreed to a $170 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General for illegally collecting information from minors without parental consent.

Federal law protects children 12 and under from having their personal information collected online.

The Federal Trade Commission found that YouTube and parent company Google violated that law by tracking children’s data across the internet and using it to make millions of dollars through targeted ads.

Now the FTC is sending a message.

“This is a historic penalty. It is staggeringly large,” says the Bureau of Consumer Protection’s Andrew Smith.

In addition to the $170 million fine, Youtube and Google will have to make YouTube channel owners clearly identify content for kids, and they’re barred from using any data already collected from children.