FTC Study Uncovers 'Vast Surveillance' of Social Media Users 

On Thursday September 20,2024, the Federal Trade Commission or FTC season reveal, that several major social media and streaming platforms, including big names like Meta, YouTube, and TikTok, had collected and shared voluminous amounts of personal information of users without them fully realizing, including minors.  

This “massive surveillance,” per the FTC, drives the firms’ advertising profits based on the individual user’s personal information, but it also reveals enormous problems regarding user privacy, especially concerning children and teens. 

The nine companies the FTC season reveal showed in studies that the operate many of the nation’s largest platforms, including: Discord, Snapchat, Reddit, and Twitch. Meant to shine a light on the data practices of the four-year study by the companies: “They collect data on things from users’ age, gender, education, and even income and then fail to provide users with an easy way to stop the collection of this information. Worse, much sensitive information is kept way longer than it needs to be.”. 

Data Collection Raises Privacy Concerns 

According to the report from the FTC season reveal, the tech giants have failed to protect users, especially minors, from invasive data collection. Many of the platforms reportedly have restrictions for users under the age of 13, though the report found that many children remain on the platforms, and teens are subjected to the same levels of data collection as adults. 

“Surveillance practices can threaten people’s privacy, undermine their freedoms, and lead to a host of other harms, from theft to stalking,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan in a statement. 

The report also chided the self-regulation efforts at these companies, which it termed ineffective. “Self-regulation has been a failure,” the report said. That said, tech companies have argued time and again that they have more or less tightened their data policies since the study was conducted, findings that more substantial federal privacy legislation is in order to protect users. 

Calls for Stronger Privacy Laws and Regulations 

The report further underpins the essence of federal legislation on privacy, as now there is a growing belief that social media is the link to the deterioration of mental health in the youth. But with several proposals in Congress, an attempt at legislation to tighten the data collection practices of Big Tech was welcomed by a choke. In December, FTC called for new rules to restrict how companies collect and use consumer data, especially for kids and teens. 

Some companies have reacted to the FTC season reveal. Google, YouTube’s parent, defended its policies: “We never sell people’s personal information, and we don’t use sensitive information to serve ads.” So did Discord: the head of its public policy, Kate Sheerin, let it be known that the report incorrectly lumps together disparate business models, stressing that Discord doesn’t run a formal digital advertising service. 

Notwithstanding these defenses, the FTC season reveal is not deterred by its findings. The agency is pushing for more stringent child privacy protections-to be exact as far as possible for users under the age of 18. Most recently, the FTC last year proposed changes to strengthen child privacy regulations, and it also continues to pursue enforcement actions against companies flouting the law on privacy.  

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