The company that runs Justin Bieber’s official fan club has agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations that it illegally gathered personal information on more than 25,000 of his preteen “Beliebers.”
The feds’ pending deal with Artist Arena was revealed yesterday morning at an advertising-industry conference in Manhattan by Commissioner Edith Ramirez of the Federal Trade Commission.
A suit filed Tuesday by the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office said that Artist Arena failed to “obtain verifiable parental consent” before registering more than 100,000 teenyboppers at BieberFever.com and other sites devoted to his girlfriend, Selena Gomez, as well as to Demi Lovato and Rihanna.
The suit accused Artist Arena of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which regulates the collection and use of personal data about kids under 13.
In her remarks, Ramirez said she had “no doubt Artist Arena executives never wanted to run afoul of the statute.”
“But somewhere between their good intentions and the reality of their marketing campaigns, COPPA compliance got lost,” she added.
The company, which is owned by Warner Music, didn’t respond to a request for comment.