A federal judge has approved an order mandating Disney to pay $10 million to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the unlawful collection of children's personal data.

The allegations stem from a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, which was prompted by the FTC's notification. The complaint accused Disney Worldwide Services, Inc. and Disney Entertainment Operations LLC of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule) by failing to properly label certain videos uploaded to YouTube as 'Made for Kids' (MFK).

By mislabeling these videos, Disney allegedly allowed the collection of personal data from children under 13 who viewed these child-directed videos, which was then used for targeted advertising without parental consent.

The settlement requires Disney to pay a civil penalty of $10 million and mandates compliance with the COPPA Rule. This includes notifying parents before collecting personal information from children under 13 and obtaining verifiable parental consent. Additionally, Disney must implement a program to review whether videos should be designated as MFK, unless YouTube adopts age assurance technologies to verify user ages.