A recently released Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report uncovers an alarming reality: social media and video streaming platforms are essentially running a vast surveillance operation, spying on users with minimal internal oversight. This intrusive collection and sale of user data, including that of minors, is a major concern, and these companies are making billions of dollars off of it.
The report, based on orders for information sent to nine major platforms—Meta, Amazon, X, Snap, YouTube, and ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok) among them—sheds light on their data collection practices between 2019 and 2020. However, many of the practices scrutinized continue to this day.
This report comes at a time when Congress is considering legislation to better regulate the companies’ handling of data, especially concerning children and teens. Two significant pieces of legislation, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), are on the table, both aiming to protect young users’ privacy in a landscape where their data is often exploited.
Rampant Exploitation of Children’s and Teens’ Privacy
The FTC’s findings focus heavily on how these companies’ data practices impact children and teenagers, raising questions about whether they are breaking existing laws designed to protect minors’ digital privacy. Violations could extend to Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices, by misleading consumers or withholding critical information.
The FTC demanded that these companies provide detailed information on how they collect, store, and utilize data. They were also asked to clarify how they target ads—both to users and non-users—and to disclose the role that algorithms and artificial intelligence play in their decision-making processes. In addition, the agency sought to understand how these practices specifically affect minors, a particularly vulnerable demographic.
According to the FTC Chair Lina Khan, these platforms are profiting immensely from the data they harvest—often at the expense of users’ privacy and freedom. “The report’s findings are timely, particularly as state and federal policymakers consider legislation to protect people from abusive data practices,” Khan stated.
Long-Term Data Storage and Widespread Sharing
Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of the report is how companies store data indefinitely and merge it with information from data brokers—personal data of both users and non-users alike. The platforms also share this data with other companies, enabling them to track consumers even beyond their own platforms. Moreover, these companies collect data from other apps and websites to further extend their reach into users’ digital lives.
Despite their colossal data collection capabilities, many companies couldn’t fully account for all the data they gathered or identify every third-party entity they shared it with. Tracking technologies like pixels were used to monitor user activity at a granular level, down to every single click.
Poor Protections for Children
While these platforms collect vast amounts of data, the report points out that they lack sufficient protections for children and teens. Some companies even falsely claimed that no minors used their services, a clear attempt to sidestep the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Most companies treated teenagers the same way they treated adult users, exposing them to the same risks and data collection practices.
The FTC made several recommendations to mitigate these issues, calling for Congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation and urging companies to take immediate action:
- Minimize the data they collect and refrain from sharing it with third parties or affiliates.
- Delete data that is no longer needed and eliminate the use of ad trackers that rely on sensitive information, like location tracking.
- Give consumers more control over how algorithms and artificial intelligence systems use their data.
- Increase transparency around the use of these systems and improve monitoring and oversight.
- Acknowledge that children and teens are using their platforms and enforce better protections for minors’ data.
The Need for Immediate Action
The findings of the FTC report make it clear: without significant changes, the vast surveillance networks built by these platforms will continue to undermine users’ privacy and freedoms. The longer these unchecked practices persist, the more vulnerable individuals—particularly children—become.
With billions at stake, the question remains: will these tech giants voluntarily curtail their invasive data practices, or will it take stronger legal intervention to safeguard the privacy of all users? The report stresses that the time to act is now, and only through collective action can the tide of mass data exploitation be turned.
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