The FTC fined Xbox $20 million for illegally collecting data from children under 13 years old without parental consent, which the agency says is a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Xbox users are required to register an account before they can play games on their console, and until 2021, the process involves providing the user’s full name, a date of birth, and an email address. Xbox notifies users under 13 to get parental consent before continuing – but only after receiving and storing their personal information.
