On 18 June 2024, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto finalized a settlement with Tilting Point Media LLC concerning violations of data privacy laws, specifically the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The case centered on the mobile game “SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off,” where the company collected and shared children’s data without appropriate parental consent.
Key Violations and Settlement Details
The investigation revealed that Tilting Point Media misconfigured third-party software development kits (SDKs), leading to unauthorized data collection from children. Additionally, the game’s age-screening mechanism failed to effectively determine users’ ages.
The settlement requires Tilting Point to pay $500,000 in civil penalties, divided equally between the California Attorney General and the Los Angeles City Attorney. Additionally, the company must adhere to comprehensive injunctive provisions, which include:
- Compliance with COPPA and CCPA regarding children’s data across all games.
- Not selling or sharing personal information of children under 13 without verified parental consent.
- Implementing neutral age-screening mechanisms to ensure accurate age input by users.
- Proper configuration and governance of third-party software development kits (SDKs) to prevent unauthorized data collection.
- Ensuring clear parental consent for data collection from children under 13.
- Limiting data sharing and advertising to comply with legal standards.
👉 Read the press release here.
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