Stipulated Court Order Resolves Allegations that Chinese Toy Maker Apitor Technology Co. Violated Children’s Privacy Law

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced today that a federal court has entered a stipulated order resolving a case alleging that China-based toy maker Apitor Technology Co., Ltd. (Apitor) violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and its implementing regulations (COPPA) in connection with its programmable robotic toys.

“The Justice Department will vigorously work to ensure businesses respect parents’ rights to decide when their children’s personal information can be collected and used,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to work with the FTC to stop unlawful intrusions on children’s privacy.”

COPPA prohibits operators of online services from knowingly collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under the age of 13 (hereinafter, children), unless they provide notice to and obtain consent from those children’s parents. In a civil complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, the government alleges Apitor collected geolocation data from children who used Apitor’s app to control its robotic toys, without notifying parents or obtaining parental consent.

The stipulated order resolving this case enjoins Apitor from collecting or using data from children without making reasonable efforts to directly notify parents and obtaining verifiable parental consent, and it also requires Apitor to delete children’s personal information that was previously collected without parental consent. The order additionally imposes a $500,000 civil penalty, which is suspended due to Apitor’s inability to pay.

This matter is being handled by Trial Attorney David Crockett, Senior Trial Attorney Daniel Crane-Hirsch, and Assistant Director Zachary Dietert from the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Sapna Mehta for the Northern District of California and Shining Hsu and Evan Rose from the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.