Two separate record-breaking settlements were announced by the FTC: a $275 million penalty for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and a $245 million reimbursement to consumers who were deceived into making unwanted charges.
The FTC claimed in a federal complaint that Epic broke the COPPA by collecting information from children under the age of 13 who played Fortnite without first notifying or obtaining parental or guardian approval.
It also claimed that Epic had broken the FTC Act by allowing children and teenagers to engage in real-time voice and text messages by default, which led to bullying, threats, harassment, and exposure to potentially harmful and traumatic content for some players.
Epic will no longer be allowed to support voice and text communications for minors without parental permission via a privacy setting.
A related FTC lawsuit said that Epic used “dark patterns and billing techniques” to deceive players of all ages into making unwanted purchases and to allow youngsters to accumulate unauthorised charges without parental involvement.
The FTC said that users were being charged for in-game purchases without their knowledge because of Fortnite’s “counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button arrangement.”
“For instance, gamers might be charged for pressing a nearby button while trying to merely preview an item, while the game is on a loading screen, or while the game is sleeping and the player is trying to rouse it from sleep mode.”
Before the year 2018, Epic also let kids use their parents’ credit cards without their knowledge or permission to purchase in-game currency for Fortnite. The FTC stated that Epic did not respond to over a million player complaints about unfair billing practises.
Another claim made in the lawsuit was that Epic would lock the accounts of users who contested unauthorised purchases with their credit card providers, thereby preventing such players from obtaining any material they had already purchased. From now on, you won’t be able to do that.
According to FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan, “As our complaints highlight, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that deceived Fortnite users, including teenagers and children.”
The Commission places a high priority on protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy intrusions and dark patterns; the FTC is sending a strong message to corporations through these enforcement actions that it is cracking down on these unlawful practises.
Epic stated in a blog post on the FTC settlements, “No developer designs a game with the objective of ending up here…” We’re on board with this agreement because we want Epic to be a leader in consumer protection and give our players the very best.
“Over the past few years, we’ve been making adjustments to guarantee that our ecosystem lives up to the requirements of our players and regulators,” the statement reads.
