FTC Orders OpenX to Pay $2M on COPPA; Phillips Concurs

The FTC ordered an online advertising platform to pay $2 million to settle allegations the company “collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.” OpenX Technologies violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule when it knew it was reviewing hundreds of child-directed applications and collected personal information of children under 13, the agency said. Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the order. Commissioner Noah Phillips highlighted some “areas of concern,” in a concurrence. There’s no “obvious reason” to require OpenX to provide notice to its clients about the data allegations other than to “perhaps further penalize OpenX,” he said. He noted the FTC sought $7.5 million from OpenX in its stipulated order but settled for $2 million due to its inability to pay. “OpenX secretly collected location data and opened the door to privacy violations on a massive scale, including against children,” said Consumer Protection Bureau Director Samuel Levine Wednesday. An attorney for the company didn’t comment Thursday.