Genshin Impact Game Developer to Pay $20 Million to Settle Child Privacy Allegations

The deal with the FTC will force Cognosphere to delete personal info of all users under the age of 13 unless parental consent is obtained.
Genshin Impact Game Developer to Pay $20 Million to Settle Child Privacy Allegations
The Federal Trade Commission in Washington on Aug. 6, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
Naveen Athrappully
Updated:
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The developer of the online game Genshin Impact agreed to pay $20 million to settle allegations of violating data privacy of children and duping players into spending money on in-game loot boxes.

The settlement comes as part of a complaint filed against Singapore-based Cognosphere Pte. Ltd and its California subsidiary Cognosphere LLC, which does business in the United States as HoYoverse. The defendants allegedly “actively marketed” the free-to-download game Genshin Impact to children and collected their private info, thus violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), said a Jan. 17 statement from the FTC.
Naveen Athrappully
Naveen Athrappully
Author
Naveen Athrappully is a news reporter covering business and world events at The Epoch Times.