The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday announced it had fined Artist Arena, a company that created fan websites and other digital media for “Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez,” among others, for violating children’s online privacy laws by collecting information on child Web users under the age of 13 without notifying parents and obtaining consent.
“Marketers need to know that even a bad case of Bieber Fever doesn’t excuse their legal obligation to get parental consent before collecting personal information from children,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, in a statement released on the FTC’s website. “The FTC is in the process of updating the COPPA Rule [Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act] to ensure that it continues to protect kids growing up in the digital age.”
