FTC Report: Social Media and Streaming Firms Spying on Users

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released a report scrutinizing the data collection policies of social media platforms and video streaming services. Published on September 19th, the report uncovers extensive surveillance by these platforms, revealing that they often retain significant amounts of data indefinitely, affecting both users and non-users. The document questions the platforms’ capacity for self-regulation.

The report indicates that self-regulation has failed, driven by the immense profitability derived from collecting and monetizing user data. According to the report, companies rank among the most lucrative globally due to this commercial surveillance, which is used to predict, shape, and monetize human behavior.

The FTC report highlights that the issue is not isolated to one company’s business model but is part of an industrywide incentive structure that prioritizes data harvesting. FTC Chair Lina Khan noted that these surveillance practices can jeopardize privacy, threaten freedoms, and expose individuals to various risks, including identity theft and stalking. The inadequate protection of children and teenagers by several firms is particularly concerning.

The report is based on inquiries sent by the FTC to nine companies in December 2020 under section 6(b) of the FTC Act, allowing the commission to conduct studies without a specific law enforcement intent. These queries were directed to Amazon (which owns Twitch), Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, X, Snap, ByteDance (owner of TikTok), Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp, focusing on their data collection and retention practices, particularly concerning children and teenagers.

Among the findings in the 129-page report is that even non-users’ data was collected. Companies acquired data from various sources, such as advertisers, data brokers, advertising tracking technology, and inferences from algorithms, data analytics, or artificial intelligence. Companies were found to retain this data indefinitely, with some not deleting users’ data upon request but rather deidentifying it or only partially deleting it.

The report concludes with recommendations to curtail these data collection practices. It urges Congress to enact comprehensive privacy legislation to limit surveillance. In the meantime, the FTC suggests that companies should restrict their data collection policies, discontinue the use of “privacy-intensive ad tracking technologies,” and enhance privacy protections for teenagers.

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