The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay a $10 million civil penalty after U.S. authorities found that personal data from children was unlawfully collected and used for advertising on YouTube. The settlement resolves allegations that Disney failed to comply with federal rules designed to protect the privacy of children under the age of 13.
The case focused on Disney’s management of videos uploaded to YouTube that were directed at children. Regulators said some content that should have been clearly designated as made for children was instead incorrectly labelled. As a result, YouTube applied standard advertising tools to those videos, allowing the collection of personal data from young viewers without verified parental consent.
According to the complaint, the data collected from children was used for targeted advertising, which is prohibited under U.S. children’s privacy rules unless specific safeguards are in place. Authorities stated that Disney relied on channel-level settings rather than reviewing individual videos, which resulted in child-focused content being misclassified.
Under the settlement, Disney must pay a $10 million penalty and implement changes to its review and labeling processes for videos uploaded to YouTube. The agreement requires the company to implement a formal process to assess whether each video is intended for children and to ensure appropriate protections are applied before publication.
The order also requires Disney to maintain records of its compliance efforts and to train staff involved in content review and publishing. These measures are intended to prevent similar violations in the future and to ensure that child-focused content is properly identified.
The enforcement action follows increased scrutiny of how children’s data is handled on large online platforms, particularly when content is distributed through third-party services. Regulators said the case highlights the responsibility of content owners to ensure that privacy protections apply when their material is viewed by young audiences.
Disney has previously said the issue relates only to content published on YouTube and does not involve its own streaming platforms. The company has said it supports stronger protections for children online and is committed to complying with applicable privacy laws.
The settlement adds to a series of actions taken by U.S. authorities aimed at enforcing rules on children’s data and limiting the use of targeted advertising in content watched by under-13s.