The tech giant is expected to pay US federal authorities $20 million after it was found that Microsoft improperly obtained data on children who created Xbox accounts.
On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Microsoft reached an agreement that includes better protections for young players.
The FTC found that Microsoft failed to educate parents about its data collection policy, among other violations.
It follows a similar move against Amazon last week over its Echo gadgets, JEE News reported.
According to the FTC, by failing to properly obtain parental consent and by keeping personal information of children under 13 longer than necessary for accounts created before 2021, Microsoft violated Children’s Online Privacy Protection. broke the act.
Online businesses and websites that cater to children are required by law to obtain parental consent and notify parents when personal information about their child is being collected, the report said.
To use multiple services on Xbox, users must first register an account. As part of setup, details including your full name, email address, and birthday are collected.
The FTC also revealed that Microsoft did not request parental consent before collecting personal data, such as a child’s phone number.
The FTC said in a statement that from 2015 to 2020, Microsoft retained data from account setup “sometimes for years,” even when parents failed to complete the process.
Microsoft failed to inform parents about the data it was collecting and sharing with third parties.
“Unfortunately, we have not met customer expectations and are committed to complying with the order to improve our security measures,” Microsoft’s Dave McCarthy, CVP of Xbox Player Services, said in an Xbox Wrote in a blog post.
“We believe we can and must do more, and we will remain steadfast in our commitment to safety, privacy and security for our community,” he added.
According to the settlement, Microsoft must institute new child safety protections, which must be approved by a judge before they can be implemented.
Additionally, the settlement forces the company to maintain a system to delete all personal data after two weeks if parental consent is not obtained.
Earlier, Amazon agreed to pay $25 million after the FTC discovered it had kept sensitive data, including child voice recordings, for years.
Ring, an Amazon product with a doorbell camera, has agreed to pay $5.8 million after giving staff members unlimited access to customer information.
