Epic Games received a notice from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) two large fines totaling $520 million. Both violations are related to the popular Fortnite battle royale event.
The first concerns a violation of the law on collecting data from users under the age of thirteen without the consent of their legal representatives (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act). At this point the FTC indicates automatic activation of voice and text chat in Fortnite and hard to disable, which can lead to harassment, intimidation, and the collection of personal information from minors. Epic was fined $275 million for violating this law. This is the highest fine ever imposed under said federal law.
The second violation concerns additional paid content. According to the FTC, it is purpose-built in such a way that make unwanted purchases as easy as possible at the touch of a button, without the participation of parents. Epic currently has $245 million to reimburse customers for unwanted purchases, according to the FTC.
Epic Games management on both mentioned points agreed to pay the said sums. Otherwise, the whole situation will have to be resolved through the courts. The company must also begin to address problem areas. The result, for example, is a new account type released this month for younger users, in which features like chat and shopping are already disabled by default.
Source :Indian TV
