Penalty Amount
$98,618
Consumers Affected
24,000
Unixiz, Inc. agreed to shut down its i-Dressup teen social website and pay $98,618 in civil penalties to settle allegations that it violated COPPA by collecting personal information from over 2,500 New Jersey children without parental consent and failed to safeguard user data, leading to a 2016 data breach affecting more than 24,000 New Jersey residents.
Unixiz must permanently shut down the i-Dressup website, implement systems to obtain verifiable parental consent, allow parents to review and revoke consent, establish data security policies, and pay $98,618 in civil penalties, with $64,618 suspended for two years upon compliance.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor, customer, and data processing agreements, particularly those involving services directed at minors or handling user data. Focus on clauses governing data collection from children, consent mechanisms (especially verifiable parental consent), data security obligations, breach notification requirements, and data retention/deletion policies. Given the allegations of collecting children's data without consent and failing to safeguard it leading to a breach, contracts must be updated to mandate strict COPPA compliance, implement robust security protocols, require timely breach notifications, and provide parents with clear rights to review and revoke consent.
Entity
Unixiz, Inc.
Also known as: Unixiz
Industry
Social MediaOfficial Press Release
https://www.njoag.gov/operator-of-teen-social-website-breached-by-hacker-agrees-to-close-site-and-reform-practices-to-settle-allegations-it-violated-childrens-online-privacy-protection-act/
New Jersey Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.njoag.gov/about/divisions-and-offices/division-of-consumer-affairs/
"Unixiz, Inc., the company that owned and operated the online social website “i-Dressup”"
"civil penalties in the amount of $98,618"
"violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)"
"and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act"
"failing to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting and processing children’s personal information"
"failing to adequately safeguard user information"
A multistate coalition co-led by New Jersey won a federal court order rejecting the Trump Administration’s decision not to request funding for the CFPB. The order struck down that decision and directed the Administration to follow the law and fund the agency; no monetary penalty or privacy violation is described.
New Jersey’s Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs alerted the public that three synthetic kratom-related compounds became illegal to possess or sell in the state under a temporary federal scheduling order. The release describes a controlled-substance alert, not a privacy enforcement action, and identifies no company, privacy violation, or monetary penalty.
$2.3M
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings agreed to pay $2,287,455 to participating states and strengthen its security and vendor-management practices following an investigation into the 2019 breach at its debt-collection vendor, AMCA. The breach potentially exposed information of more than 27.5 million people nationwide, including sensitive information belonging to approximately 10.2 million LabCorp patients.
$694.0M
New Jersey's Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs, along with 41 Attorneys General, reached a $694 million settlement with subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance Corporation over allegations it originated unaffordable loans its own systems predicted borrowers could not repay, employed aggressive debt-collection tactics, and failed to prevent deceptive vehicle-service contract and GAP product 'packing' by dealers. The multistate settlement stepped in after the CFPB permanently dropped its 2023 enforcement action against CAC in 2025. CAC will provide $60 million in cash restitution, $634 million in debt relief, an additional $15 million to the states, and implement injunctive lending reforms including loan off ramps, pre-loan disclosures, add-on packing safeguards, and a seven-year vehicle price cap. Note: this is a consumer-protection lending enforcement action, not a privacy matter; violation categories are best-fit mappings from the available taxonomy.
$650K
The New Jersey Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs announced that Match Group, Inc. will pay $650,000 and change its business practices to settle allegations that it misrepresented or failed to disclose its criminal background screening policies and practices to New Jersey users, violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and the Internet Dating Safety Act. Under a Consent Order, Match must accurately represent its screening policies, notify existing New Jersey members of updated disclosures within 150 days, and post clear and conspicuous disclosures and safety notifications about the limitations of criminal background screenings.
$96.5M
New Jersey and a coalition of states and territories obtained preliminary approval for a plan to distribute funds from settlements with generic drug manufacturers accused of conspiring to raise drug prices. The settlements total approximately $96.5 million, and eligible consumers may submit claims for compensation.