The FTC has closed the deal with Epic Games known today. According to the US regulator, the game company violated the privacy law by collecting personal information from Fortnite players under the age of 13 without notifying parents or asking for parental consent.
The watchdog also accused the gaming company of illegally enabling real-time voice and text chats for children in the game. According to the FTC, Epic puts users at risk by connecting them with strangers. As a result, some players have been “bullied, threatened, harassed and exposed to dangerous and psychologically traumatic problems”.
Unintentional spending due to “dark patterns”
In the second case, the FTC said that Epic Games knowingly made it difficult to find unwanted cancellation and refund features for Fortnite players. The company has used sneaky design tricks known as obscure templates to trick millions of gamers into making accidental purchases.
Epic also blocked the accounts of players who complained to their credit card companies about unauthorized charges. Fortnite players have been warned by the gaming company that they could face a lifetime ban if they contest the allegations in the future.
‘Record amounts’
According to the FTC, these were “record amounts” for these types of violations. “This is a message to all Internet companies that the collection of personal information from children without parental consent will not be tolerated,” said Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta.
“Epic puts children and adolescents at risk because of its lax privacy practices and costs consumers millions through its use of obscure schemes,” said FTC Chief Executive Officer Samuel Levine, director of the Office of Privacy. FTC Consumer Protection. The game company must also pay back “millions” to consumers.
New account for young players
Fortnite appeared in 2017 and quickly became one of the most popular games ever. The game has more than 400 million users worldwide. Epic Games was valued at nearly $32 billion in April.
Earlier this month, the company introduced a new fortnite account type which is supposed to provide players under the age of 13 with a “safe and inclusive experience”. With such an account, they cannot chat or make purchases, unless they have permission from their parent or guardian.
