FTC fines Epic Games $520 million for alleged violations of Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday said it secured agreements requiring Epic Games Inc., creator of the video game Fortnite, to pay $520 million in relief over allegations the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC charged Epic Games with deploying “design tricks, known as dark patterns, to dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases.” The FTC said Epic agreed to two separate record-breaking settlements. “Epic will pay a $275 million monetary penalty for violating the COPPA Rule-the largest penalty ever obtained for violating an FTC rule,” the FTC said. “Additionally, in a first-of-its-kind provision, Epic will be required to adopt strong privacy default settings for children and teens, ensuring that voice and text communications are turned off by default.” Epic will pay $245 million to refund consumers, which is the FTC’s largest refund amount in a gaming case, and its largest administrative order in history.

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