A $1 million dollar fine is proposed by the Federal Trade Commission against a unit of Warner Music Group Corp. for allegedly violating child privacy laws in the operation of some of their fan websites for their artists.
During the annual meeting of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit in New York, Commissioner Edith Ramirez said that the $1 million dollars will be paid as a settlement.
These fan websites include Selena Gomez and her beau Justin Bieber, Rihanna and X Factor host Demi Lovato.
According to the Commissioner, the operator of the website was able to collect personal information of the aforementioned fans such as names, email addresses, mobile phone numbers and street addresses. The operator of the website was able to collect information of about 100,000 children.
In a complaint filed at the US District Court in New York last Tuesday, it stated that the fan sites of those artists required individuals who visited the sites to input their personal information and those under 13 are required to input their parent’s email address for confirmation.
But barely a month after they started to operate, the site enabled kids to register and pay for their membership without sending a confirmation email to their parents address.
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