Social media companies engaged in 'vast surveillance,' FTC finds, calling status quo 'unacceptable'
Popular social media platforms and video streaming services pose serious risks to user privacy, with children and teenagers most at risk, the Federal Trade Commission found in a report published Thursday.
Popular social media platforms and video streaming services pose serious risks to user privacy, with children and teenagers most at risk, the Federal Trade Commission found in a report published Thursday.
The report, which stretches more than 100 pages, details the data, advertising and recommendation-system efforts by these companies, and how they rely on information about users to sell ads. Users also “lacked any meaningful control over how personal information was used for AI-fueled systems” on the companies’ platforms, according to the report.
“While lucrative for the companies, these surveillance practices can endanger people’s privacy, threaten their freedoms, and expose them to a host of harms, from identify theft to stalking,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a press release.
The report includes staff recommendations calling for federal privacy legislation, as well as more efforts from companies to prioritize privacy in their data collection and recommendation systems. It also said parents should have more control over what information is collected from children and teenagers.
"Protecting users – especially children and teens – requires clear baseline protections that apply across the board," the FTC said in the report.
Rating: 5