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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced in September the discovery that large social media and streaming companies “have engaged in vast surveillance of users” without adequate privacy controls and safeguards for young Americans.
“The staff report is based on responses to 6(b) orders issued in December 2020 to nine companies including some of the largest social media and video streaming services: Amazon.com, Inc., which owns the gaming platform Twitch; Facebook, Inc. (now Meta Platforms, Inc.); YouTube LLC; Twitter, Inc. (now X Corp.); Snap Inc.; ByteDance Ltd., which owns the video-sharing platform TikTok; Discord Inc.; Reddit, Inc.; and WhatsApp Inc,” the FTC report reads.
The order asked companies to provide information on how their teams “collect, track and use personal and demographic information, how they determine which ads and other content are shown to consumers, whether and how they apply algorithms or data analytics to personal and demographic information, and how their practices impact children and teens.” (TAKE A POLL: Do You Feel That Your Basic Needs (Food, Shelter, and Safety) Are Adequately Met?)
Huge Data Harvested
The “lucrative” practices of collecting user data “endanger people’s privacy, threaten their freedoms, and expose them to a host of harms, from identity theft to stalking. Several firms’ failure to adequately protect kids and teens online is especially troubling. The Report’s findings are timely, particularly as state and federal policymakers consider legislation to protect people from abusive data practices,” FTC chair Lina M. Khan said in the report.
The business models of these companies largely depend on the collection of user data, particularly through targeted advertising. “the staff report concluded that the social media and video streaming services didn’t adequately protect children and teens on their sites. The report cited research that found social media and digital technology contributed to negative mental health impacts on young users.” (TAKE A POLL: Do You Feel Your Community is Supportive and Inclusive?)
The FTC asked the tech companies to limit and/or eradicate these practices, while pushing Congress to pass “comprehensive federal privacy legislation to limit surveillance, address baseline protections, and grant consumers data rights.”
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