United States of America: Announced settlement in FTC investigation into Epic Games over alleged data protection regulation violations

On 19 December 2022, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached an agreement with Epic Games, the developer of the video game Fortnite, to settle allegations and close its investigation regarding privacy violations. The FTC claimed that Epic Games violated the Children Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). According to the FTC, the company collected personal data from Fortnite users, including data of children under the age of 13. The claims include that Epic Games failed to provide notice of information collected from children and to obtain parental consent before the collection or use of children's data. Furthermore, FTC alleges that consumers have been harmed due to unfair default settings. According to the settlement, Epic Games should pay USD 275 million for Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) violations and enhance its privacy regulation for minors. The agreement will later be subject to public comment before entering into force.