Google and subsidiary YouTube has been hit with a record $170 million fine by the Federal Trade Commission, to settle allegations the search company violated a law protecting children’s privacy.

The fine is split into $136 million paid to the FTC and $34 million to New York, to end the investigation by the FTC and the New York Attorney General. The amount is the largest paid out for settling COPPA-related allegations.

It is alleged YouTube collected data on its youngest users and broke the law by not gaining consent from parents beforehand. The complaint further claims the collection was made via cookies, persistent identifiers which allowed YouTube and Google to target ads to viewers.

Google claims that YouTube is a general-audience site. But, since some channels are aimed at children, YouTube as a whole must comply with COPPA.

To read the rest of the AppleInsider.com article, click here.

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