YouTube won’t be mining data from content that is meant for kids anymore

• Starting today, all creators on YouTube are required to label their content if ‘made for kids’ in order to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
• YouTube will be using machine learning systems to help creators track content that fits into the category.
• However, if creators fail to abide by the new rules, they may face compliance issues with the FTC or other authorities, and an action will be taken on their YouTube account.
• The new move is also expected to affect the video streaming platforms’s advertising revenues as it relies heavily on data collection.

Starting today, all creators on YouTube are required to label their content if ‘made for kids’ in order to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other applicable laws set by The Federal Trade Commission, regardless of their location. To help comply with these new set of rules, YouTube is adding yet another audience setting in YouTube Studio.

The rules apply to content that is directed to children as the primary audience and even if children are a secondary audience (e.g., cartoon videos that primarily targets teenagers but is also intended for younger kids).

YouTube will be using machine-learning systems to help creators track content that fits into the category. However, if creators fail to abide by the new rules, they may face compliance issues with the FTC or other authorities, and an action will be taken on their YouTube account.

Starting in January 2020, the video streaming platform will also limit the data it collects from the content directed at kids. The new move will also affect the platforms’s advertising revenues as it relies heavily on data collection. Apart from that, certain engagement features such as comments, notifications will also be restricted.

The new filter comes after the FTC blamed Google’s YouTube for violating COPPA back in September, 2019. The FTC said the tech giant earned millions by illegally collecting personal information from children without their parents’ consent. The COPPA rule required child-directed sites to disclose data practices and get parental consent for collecting information on children under age 13. Later, Google agreed to pay $170 million to settle the allegations.