Disney may have been collecting personal information from children who use its smartphone apps and sharing the data illegally without parental consent, according to a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month in San Francisco.
The lawsuit claims that Disney’s mobile games have been secretly collecting data in order to create profiles of children to be shared with advertisers. If found to be true, this would be a direct violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, which was created 20 years ago to prevent website operators from collecting personal information about children without parental consent.
The lawsuit is currently seeking an injunction barring Disney from collecting and disclosing the data without parental consent, in addition to legal fees and punitive damages. The 42 apps included in the lawsuit include Disney Princess Palace Pets, Toy Story: Story Theater, Disney Story Central, Moana Island Life and Star Wars: Commander.
According to the lawsuit, Disney’s apps have not been collecting personal data such as users’ names or emails, but more obscure data like a smartphone’s persistent identifier, which is unique to individual mobile devices and digital files.
The lawsuit claims that this data can be used to “detect a child’s activity across multiple apps and platforms on the Internet, and across different devices, effectively providing a full chronology of the child’s actions across devices and apps … This information is then sold to various third-parties who well targeted online advertising.” In other words, it lets Disney collect personal information and track online behavior through advertising-specific software.
In response, Disney has said that the lawsuit is misguided and intends to defend against it in court.
“Disney has a robust COPPA compliance program, and we maintain strict data collection and use policies for Disney apps created for children and families,” the company said in a statement. “The complaint is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of COPPA principles, and we look forward to defending this action in Court.”