The Federal Trade Commission is not about to let anyone, even Disney, get all up in the U.S. Child Online Privacy Protection Act’s business without paying dearly for it. Playdom, a social games studio owned by Disney, is in trouble to the tune of $3 million for collecting kids ages and email addresses without requiring parental consent.

The FTC accused games like now-closed Pony Stars, which registered 821,000 before Disney bought it in 2010, of collecting kids’ info unbeknownst to parents and posting it live. That action was also in violation of Playdom’s internal policies, Kotaku reports.

Jon Leibowitz, FTC chairman, stressed that game makers need to make sure parents provide consent for their children to be online gaming socially.

“It’s the law, it’s the right thing to do, and, as today’s settlement demonstrates, violating COPPA will not come cheap.”

Disney Studio Coughs Up $3 Million for Violating Kiddie Gamers’ Privacy [Kotaku]

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