FTC: Here’s how social media and streaming companies are exploiting your data
A new detailed report by the FTC exposes the ways the biggest social media and streaming companies have been monetizing our data. And the lack of a comprehensive federal privacy law has basically let these companies do whatever they please with our data. “Two decades ago, some believed that large tech companies could be trusted to establish adequate privacy standards and practices. This report makes clear that self-regulation has been a failure,” the report said.
“The report lays out how social media and video streaming companies harvest an enormous amount of Americans’ personal data and monetize it to the tune of billions of dollars a year,” wrote FTC Chair Lina Khan in a press release.
FTC investigators submitted requests to Meta, Discord, TikTok, X, Google YouTube, Amazon, Snap, Twitch, and Reddit to detail their data collection practices.
Such requests — known as 6(b) requests — compel the recipients to supply the requested information, and refusing to do so can result in an FTC lawsuit.
The report also details how widely-used algorithms that favor user engagement can be harmful to children and teens’ mental health. Attention was also called to the vulnerability of teens over the age of 13 who are not covered by COPPA, one of the few laws protecting young people online.
The report made a series of recommendations, the first of which was to pass a comprehensive federal privacy law.
“The report lays out how social media and video streaming companies harvest an enormous amount of Americans’ personal data and monetize it to the tune of billions of dollars a year,” wrote FTC Chair Lina Khan in a press release.
FTC investigators submitted requests to Meta, Discord, TikTok, X, Google YouTube, Amazon, Snap, Twitch, and Reddit to detail their data collection practices.
Such requests — known as 6(b) requests — compel the recipients to supply the requested information, and refusing to do so can result in an FTC lawsuit.
The report also details how widely-used algorithms that favor user engagement can be harmful to children and teens’ mental health. Attention was also called to the vulnerability of teens over the age of 13 who are not covered by COPPA, one of the few laws protecting young people online.
The report made a series of recommendations, the first of which was to pass a comprehensive federal privacy law.
