WASHINGTON Microsoft will pay $20 million to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission charges that the tech company illegally collected personal information from children without their parents' consent, the FTC said on Monday.

The company had been charged with violating the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children who signed up to its Xbox gaming system without notifying their parents or obtaining their parents' consent, and by retaining children's personal information, the FTC said in a statement.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)