Xanga.com to pay USD 1 million to settle for a COPPA violation

Social-networking site Xanga.com has agreed that they would be paying USD 1 million to settle a federal complaint related to the violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

Incidentally, this penalty on Xanga.com is the largest ever for such a violation and might set a precedent for future cases.

The federal agency had accused the online service of collecting, using and disclosing personal information from children under the age of 13 without first obtaining parental permission.

FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras spoke on this news event: “A million-dollar penalty should make that obligation crystal clear.” The FTC claims that the site had around 1.7 million accounts registered with age under the required limit of 13 years.

Xanga.com cofounder and chief executive John Hiler added: “Users were able to initially indicate that they were at least 13 years old when registering for the site, and then afterwards post a younger age on their profile.”