Disney, the apparent overlord of copyright law, is being sued over claims that many of their mobile gaming apps collect personal information about young players and shares it illegally with advertisers. Disney believes that it hasn't broken any laws and that the suit has no merit. They plan to defend themselves in court.
According to The Washington Post, Disney is the defendant, along with three tech companies that are involved: Upsight, Unity, and Kochava. The plaintiff in the class-action suit alleges that Disney is in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This act specifically protects children's privacy through websites and apps. The plaintiff seeks an injunction that will stop Disney and its partners from disclosing the information without parental consent. They also aim to collect punitive damages and legal fees.
In defense, a Disney spokesperson told The Washington Post that the lawsuit has a "fundamental misunderstanding" of how COPPA works.
"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 spokesperson said. "The complaint is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of COPPA principles, and we look forward to defending this action in Court."
According to the lawsuit, the offending games from Disney are Disney Princess Palace Pets and Where's my Water 2. They have "trackers" inside their code that allows Disney to "exfiltrate that information off the smart device for advertising and other commercial purposes."
Usually, here at GameZone, we talk about news relating to video game releases, updates, announcements, etc. But this pertains to the gaming industry as a whole. It's worthy of a debate to ask if selling user information from games played is kosher.
But the question we leave you with is: What's even the point of collecting information pertinent to advertisers from a user that's most likely too young to have any purchasing power in the first place?
