California Fines Disney For Alleged Privacy Violations

Why It Matters

The fine underscores the growing regulatory risk for streaming giants and signals that California will rigorously enforce CCPA provisions, compelling the industry to prioritize transparent data handling.

Key Takeaways

• Disney pays $2.75 million for privacy violations
• Settlement mandates easy opt‑out mechanism for users
• Cross‑context behavioral ads banned after opt‑out
• Highlights California’s aggressive CCPA enforcement
• Other streaming firms, like Sling TV, face similar scrutiny

Pulse Analysis

California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has evolved from a legislative framework into an active enforcement engine, especially for digital media companies that collect granular user data. Over the past two years, the state’s attorney general has issued a series of letters and lawsuits targeting streaming platforms that lack clear opt‑out pathways. By demanding a "consumer‑friendly, easy‑to‑execute" mechanism, regulators aim to shift the burden of privacy protection from users to the companies that profit from their data, setting a benchmark that could ripple across other privacy statutes nationwide.

For Disney, the $2.75 million settlement represents both a financial hit and an operational pivot. While the amount is modest compared to the corporation’s revenue, the required changes to its advertising infrastructure could affect ad‑targeting efficiency and revenue streams. Implementing a robust opt‑out system means re‑engineering data pipelines, auditing cross‑device identifiers, and potentially limiting the granularity of audience segmentation. These adjustments, while costly, also offer Disney an opportunity to showcase compliance leadership, which may reassure advertisers and subscribers wary of data misuse.

The broader streaming ecosystem is watching closely. The precedent set by Disney—and earlier settlements like Sling TV’s—signals that any platform failing to honor opt‑out requests risks similar penalties. Companies are likely to accelerate investments in privacy‑by‑design architectures, adopt clearer consent dialogs, and reevaluate behavioral advertising models. As states consider their own privacy statutes and the federal conversation intensifies, a unified industry response could mitigate fragmented compliance costs and preserve consumer trust in the long term.

California Fines Disney For Alleged Privacy Violations

By Wendy Davis · February 13 2026

Disney will pay $2.75 million to settle charges that it violated California's privacy law by failing to fully honor streaming video users' requests to opt out of the sale or sharing of their data.

The settlement, approved Wednesday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Crowley, also requires Disney to implement a “consumer‑friendly, easy‑to‑execute opt‑out process,” and to stop “conducting cross‑context behavioral advertising” after consumers opt out of the selling or sharing of their data.

A Disney spokesperson stated Thursday that the company “continues to invest significant resources to set the standard for responsible and transparent data practices across our streaming services.”

The settlement resolves a complaint alleging that Disney failed to apply opt‑outs across consumers' devices.

“California’s comprehensive data privacy law … created a whole new world of consumer data protections,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleges in the complaint, which references theme songs from Disney movies including Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.

“But in a tale as old as time, Disney placed its profits over these critical consumer privacy rights,” the complaint states.

Bonta's office alleges that Disney “diligently linked consumer devices and data for purposes of targeting consumers with ads,” but “failed to link those same devices and data when it came to complying with consumers’ exercise of their statutory right to opt out of targeted advertising.”

The Disney settlement comes around two years after Bonta launched a privacy crackdown on companies offering streaming apps or devices. As part of that initiative, he sent letters to streaming companies that allegedly didn’t give residents an easy mechanism to opt out of the sale or sharing of their data.

In November, Dish’s Sling TV agreed to settle with Bonta over claims that it failed to offer consumers a simple way to opt out of the use of their data for advertising, and failed to provide “sufficient privacy protections” for children.

Tags: behavioral targeting, digital, Disney, Disney+, privacy, regulation, streaming