Cybersecurity Policy Report, Disney’s $10M Privacy Settlement With FTC Wins Court Approval, (Jan 2, 2026)
A $10 million privacy settlement between The Walt Disney Co. and Federal Trade Commission has been approved by a federal court.
The settlement’s acceptance by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ends an FTC investigation into Disney’s alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Disney violated COPPA by labeling videos on its YouTube channel as “Not Made for Kids” (NMFK) when they were obviously created for children, according to the FTC’s complaint.
By mislabeling the videos, Disney “allowed for the collection, through YouTube, of personal data from children under 13 who viewed child-directed videos and use of that data for targeted advertising to children,” the FTC said in a news release.
In addition to the $10 million civil penalty, Disney agreed to implement a program to ensure future compliance with COPPA, which requires, among other things, that the company properly label videos as “Made for Kids” (MFK) and obtain consent from parents or guardians before collecting children’s data and using it for targeted ads.
YouTube began labeling videos as MFK or NMFK in 2019 to settle an earlier FTC investigation into the platform’s COPPA compliance (CPR, Sept. 5, 2019). Disney chose to designate its entire YouTube channel as NMFK, which meant that all videos uploaded to the channel were designated as NMFK.
The Department of Justice obtained the court’s approval for the settlement on the FTC’s behalf in United States of America v. Disney Worldwide Services, Inc., and Disney Entertainment Operations LLC (case 2:25-cv-08223).
“The Justice Department is firmly devoted to ensuring parents have a say in how their children’s information is collected and used,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a news release. “The Department will take swift action to root out any unlawful infringement on parents’ rights to protect their children’s privacy.”
Disney and the FTC previously announced the settlement last September (CPR, Sept. 2, 2025).
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