New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says a two-year investigation by his office has found numerous children’s websites have been allowing third-party marketing companies to track children’s online activity.
That’s a violation of federal law and Schneiderman’s investigation has drawn the attention of the Federal Trade Commission.
The A-G says websites associated with Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon, Barbie, Hot Wheels and American Girl are among more than half-a-dozen companies which have agreed to pay $835,000 in penalties to the state and to make changes so their child visitors can’t be tracked.
“Operation Child Tracker” tested compliance of child and toy-focused websites for compliance with COPPA, the federal law that says kids’ online presence is off limits to advertisers and marketers.