Youtube pays a record fine in the United States and promises to better protect children's data

Google and YouTube have agreed to pay a record $ 170 million fine in the United States and promised to better protect the data of children browsing the online video platform.

"YouTube has been touting its popularity among kids with companies that were prospective customers," said Joseph Simons, head of the Consumer Protection Agency (FTC), who was suing Youtube with the Justice Department's Ministry of Justice. New York State.

But "when it came to respecting the law, the company refused to recognize that part of its platform was clearly intended for children. There is no excuse for how YouTube violated the law, "he accused.

"We will treat the data of those watching children's programs on Youtube as if they were from a child, regardless of the age of the viewer," said Susan Wojcicki, who runs YouTube, in a statement released following announcement of the agreement.

The fine is the largest to date in a case involving the protection of children's privacy.

As of April 2018, 23 digital rights and child protection organizations had filed a complaint with the FTC. They accused YouTube of collecting the personal information of minors (location, device used, phone numbers) without the parents' knowledge, and to use it to allow targeted advertising.

Tailor-made advertising, based on countless user-collected data, allows Alphabet (Google's parent company and YouTube) to reap billions of dollars in profits.

Alphabet and Facebook carve out the lion's share of online advertising with over 55% market share in the United States.

– Change now –

Children can find many programs on the video platform, which are specifically intended for them sometimes creating new audiovisual genres, such as unpacking toys under the eye of a camera, video games played and commented by children or families filming their holidays in amusement parks in the form of guided and commented tours.

The amicable settlement, to which the two democratic commissioners of the FTC opposed not judging it sufficiently severe, forces Youtube to change its methods.

The collection of data will be limited to those necessary for the proper functioning of the service and there will be more ads targeted to this type of content as the possibility of comment, said Ms. Wojcicki.

One of the most popular Kids Toads earns hundreds of thousands of dollars and will be directly affected by YouTube's announcement on Thursday.

In a statement detailing the actions taken, YouTube acknowledges that "these changes will have a significant financial impact on families and child entrepreneurs who have produced great content and built successful businesses."

The platform gives them four months to adapt and will create a $ 100 million fund to create original content for kids on YouTube and YouTubeKids around the world.

YouTube has also indicated that it will be more actively promoting YouTubeKids, especially for audiences under the age of 13, and be more selective about the channels that may appear on YouTubeKids.

The amicable agreement must still be approved by the Ministry of Justice, but it is usually a formality.

The FTC will receive $ 136 of the $ 170 million fine while the remaining $ 34 million will go to the New York State Department of Justice.

AFP