Epic Games reaches $520 million FTC settlement over Fortnite privacy violations, unintended purchases

Epic Games and the Federal Trade Commission reached a $520 million settlement over claims the Fortnite developer broke online privacy protection laws for kids and tricked players into buying in-game items (via The Wall Street Journal). The settlement includes a record $275 million penalty to settle alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) and $245 million over a purchasing setup that could trick players and allow them to buy things by accident.

Fortnite made over $9 billion during its first two years in existence.

In its complaint, the FTC alleges Epic collected personal information from Fortnite players under the age of 13 without their parent’s knowledge or consent. The agency also claims Epic harmed...

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