Official Bieber fan site fined $1 million for illegally tracking your preteens

He knows when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good. But we're not talking about Santa Claus here — we're talking about barely legal pop sensation Justin Bieber, whose official fan website was part of a government crackdown of sites that illegally collect data on underage visitors.

According to an Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report, the company that owns the official Bieber fan club (You can join for just $99 a year! What a bargain!) has been collecting information pertaining to over 100,000 visitors to the site aged 12 and younger. That's a big no-no, and a direct violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The same company also maintains — and illegally collected data via — RihannaNow.com, SelenaGomez.com, and DemiLovatoFanClub.com.

Terms of the settlement require Artist Arena LLC to pay a $1 million fine for their transgressions. It's the second high profile internet victory for the FTC this week: Just yesterday, the agency announced that it levied a $163 million fine on a woman who blackmailed people with fake computer scans.

[Image credit: Daniel Ogren]

This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca

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