Mattel & others fined for illegally tracking children online without permission

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37359470

Three toy companies and the broadcaster Viacom have been fined by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for illegally using cookies and other tracking technology to keep track of children's activities online.

The companies involved were:

• Mattel - tracking tech was found on its Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, Monster High, Ever After High and Thomas & Friends sites. It was fined $250,000
• Viacom - tracking tech was found on its Nick Jr and Nickelodeon sites, which contain pages for TV shows including Dora the Explorer, Spongebob Squarepants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was fined $500,000
• Hasbro - tracking tech was found on a site promoting its Nerf blasters. The firm was not fined
• Jumpstar - tracking tech was found on its Neopets site in addition to a plug-in that sent data about visitors to Facebook. It was fined $85,000

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