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The FTC Fines Epic Games $520 Million For Privacy Violations

Fortnite loading on a Nintendo Switch.
Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels.

The Federal Trade Commission fined Fortnite creator Epic Games $520 million for allegedly illegally collecting children’s data through the game. According to The Wall Street Journal, the FTC alleges the Fortnite creator violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Epic Games agreed to settle two FTC fines; $275 million for violating the COPPA rule and $245 million in refunds. The former is the largest single financial penalty in FTC history. 

Epic Games settled FTC fines for potentially endangering children and tricking them into buying in-game currency. 

The FTC alleges Epic Games violated the COPPA rule by knowingly illegally collecting children’s data without parental consent. Additionally, they potentially endangered minors by enabling in-game voice and text chat by default, allowing them to talk to strangers. The features allegedly exposed kids to “psychologically traumatizing issues such as suicide while on Fortnite,” according to the complaint.

The FTC obtained a federal court order mandating Epic Games turn off live voice chat features for children by default. Additionally, they must delete all illegally collected data under the COPPA rule. Finally, the settlement mandates Epic Games obtain parental consent before collecting data for players under 13. 

Epic Games allegedly used “dark patterns” to trick players into unwanted purchases. 

Additionally, the FTC alleges Epic Games used illegal user interface methods called “dark patterns” to trick players into unwanted purchases. “Fortnite’s counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players to incur unwanted charges,” reads the complaint. The FTC mentions design choices such as conspicuous button placement that authorizes charges in one click.

A few years ago, the game became notorious for kids racking up credit card debt without their parent’s knowledge. As previously mentioned, Epic Games must pay $245 million in user refunds for their shady UI practices. In addition, the FTC filing alleges Epic Games intentionally ignored more than one million user complaints and internal employee concerns.

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