California Department of Justice Settles with Walt Disney Company for Privacy Violations

California AG Secures Largest-Ever Privacy Settlement Against Disney

In a landmark move for digital rights, the California Department of Justice has finalized a historic settlement with The Walt Disney Company following an investigation into consumer privacy failures. This resolution marks the largest enforcement action in the history of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), signaling a major crackdown on how entertainment giants handle user data and “opt-out” requests.

The settlement addresses specific gaps in Disney’s privacy protocols, where the state alleged the company made it unnecessarily difficult for fans to stop the sale or sharing of their personal information across its various digital platforms.

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On Wednesday, February 11, the California Attorney General’s Office secured a record-breaking $2.75 million settlement with The Walt Disney Company. The agreement resolves allegations that Disney breached the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by failing to provide a seamless way for users to protect their personal data.

The legal action followed a rigorous DOJ investigation into Disney’s streaming platforms, which revealed that the company did not properly honor “opt-out” requests across linked devices. Essentially, if a user opted out of data sharing on one device, Disney allegedly continued to sell or share their information on others. As part of the settlement, Disney is now mandated to pay significant civil penalties and overhaul its privacy systems to ensure a single request effectively stops the sale of consumer data across its entire digital ecosystem.

Attorney General Rob Bonta made it clear that privacy shouldn’t be a puzzle, emphasizing that under California law, the right to opt out must be both effortless and absolute. He stressed that consumers deserve a “one-and-done” solution for protecting their data, rather than navigating a maze of settings across multiple devices.

“Consumers shouldn’t have to go to infinity and beyond to assert their privacy rights. Today, my office secured the largest settlement to date under the CCPA over Disney’s failure to stop selling and sharing the data of consumers that explicitly asked it to … California’s nation-leading privacy law is clear: A consumer’s opt-out right applies wherever and however a business sells data — businesses can’t force people to go device-by-device or service-by-service. In California, asking a business to stop selling your data should not be complicated or cumbersome. My office is committed to the continued enforcement of this critical privacy law.”

The state’s investigation uncovered that Disney’s privacy controls were essentially a maze of “half-measures.” Rather than providing a universal shield, Disney’s toggle switches were often restricted to a single device or service. Furthermore, while their webforms appeared to opt users out of Disney’s internal advertising, the company allegedly continued to sell personal data through embedded third-party tracking tech. Even the Global Privacy Control (GPC)—a universal signal for privacy—was only honored on a device-specific basis, failing to protect the user’s entire account as required by law.

This landmark $2.75 million penalty officially stands as the largest CCPA settlement in California’s history. It marks the seventh major enforcement action led by the Attorney General’s Office, which has been aggressively auditing tech and entertainment giants. With this move, Disney joins the ranks of Sephora, DoorDash, and Sling TV in facing state discipline for data mishandling.

As the California DOJ continues its investigative sweeps across the industry, the message is clear: privacy is no longer optional. While Disney has remained silent on the settlement as of this morning, the state’s record-breaking fine speaks for itself.

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