Stipulated Order Requires Epic to ‘Assess’ its Privacy Program Once a Year

Defendant Epic Games neither admits nor denies any of the allegations in the FTC’s complaint that the Fortnite creator violated children’s privacy law and used dark patterns to trick millions of gamers into making unintentional purchases (see 2212190064), said a stipulated order Tuesday (docket 5:22-CV-00518) signed by the parties and by U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle for Eastern North Carolina in Elizabeth City. A permanent injunction enjoins Epic from “failing to make reasonable efforts” to be sure a parent “receives direct notice” of Epic’s practices on the collection, use or disclosure of personal information from children, said the order. The order requires Epic at least once every 12 months to “assess the sufficiency” of any safeguards in place to address the internal and external risks to the privacy of covered information, and to modify the privacy program “as needed based on the results,” it said.