The FTC and the New York Attorney General recently announced a record-setting $170 million ($136 million to the FTC and $34 million to the NY AG) joint settlement with Google. The settlement resolves allegations that YouTube violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and is the largest penalty the FTC has ever received in a COPPA case, easily dwarfing the agency’s next-highest $5.7 million settlement with TikTok. In the complaint, the agencies…

The FTC announced today that it is seeking comments on a variety of issues related to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection (COPPA) Rule. Although only six years have passed since the FTC’s 2013 COPPA Rule update, the FTC is initiating an early review in response to new technologies and applicability to certain business sectors, including the educational tech sector, voice-enabled connected devices, and general audience platforms that host third-party child-directed content. Along with seeking comments,…

New York’s efforts to pass the New York Privacy Act failed when the bill did not appear in the most recent legislative session. The bill, said to be “tougher,” “bolder,” and more “sweeping” than other privacy legislation, initially gained a number of Senate co-sponsors when Sen. Kevin Thomas introduced it, but no Assembly members signed on. The bill included concepts such as the following: Data Fiduciary: Companies that collect consumer data would be subject to fiduciary duties of…