# Judge urges Character.AI to hire privacy ombudsman for proposed Disney deal > Source: > Published: 2026-10-31 19:12:13+00:00 # Judge urges Character.AI to hire privacy ombudsman for proposed Disney deal **Judge Brendan Shannon urged Character Technologies to hire an expert on child harm and user privacy as Disney's $20M license heads toward a proposed November 24th sale hearing.** By [RuntimeWire Staff](https://runtimewire.com/author/runtimewire-staff) · Published · Updated Primary source: [Bloomberg Technology](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-30/ai-media-firm-needs-privacy-ombudsman-in-disney-deal-judge-says) ## Why it matters Character.AI drew 12 million monthly users, yet Character Technologies lost $8 million to $9 million a month and landed in Chapter 11. States are seeking independent privacy oversight of any sale or transfer involving the intimate data collected from minors and other users. Character Technologies' proposed technology license to Disney drew a call for independent privacy scrutiny from US Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon at an October 30th hearing. Shannon said he would "strongly encourage" the Character.AI operator to hire a privacy ombudsman to assess potential harm to children, but declined to order an appointment, [Bloomberg reported](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-30/ai-media-firm-needs-privacy-ombudsman-in-disney-deal-judge-says?ref=runtimewire).… When you purchase through links in our articles, [we may earn a small commission](https://runtimewire.com/affiliate-monetization-standards). This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.