"The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has imposed a £247,590 penalty on MediaLab.AI, Inc, concluding that the company allowed children to access Imgur for years without putting in place even basic age-checking safeguards required under UK data protection law. Following a long-running investigation, the regulator found that MediaLab failed to establish the age of Imgur users, processed the personal data of children under 13 without parental consent, and did not carry out a data protection impact assessment to identify or mitigate risks to younger users."
"Because Imgur had no effective way of determining who was using the platform, children were exposed to potentially harmful content, including material relating to eating disorders, antisemitism, homophobia, and sexually explicit or violent imagery. The ICO said personal data was being used to shape content recommendations without any protections appropriate for children. John Edwards, the UK Information Commissioner, said the company had failed in its legal duty to protect young users."
The Information Commissioner's Office imposed a £247,590 penalty on MediaLab.AI for allowing children to access Imgur without basic age‑checking safeguards required under UK data protection law. MediaLab failed to establish user ages, processed personal data of children under 13 without parental consent, and omitted a data protection impact assessment to identify or mitigate risks. Lack of age assurance allowed children to encounter potentially harmful content, including eating-disorder material, antisemitism, homophobia, and sexually explicit or violent imagery. Personal data was used to shape content recommendations without child-appropriate protections. The ICO covered a four-year period and concluded MediaLab breached the UK GDPR.
Read at Business Matters
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