Official announcements from the FTC or relevant government publications

FTC Report Reveals Extensive User Surveillance by Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, Meta, TikTok, and X

Sep 19, 2024, 07:01 PM

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report on Thursday revealing that major social media and streaming companies, including Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, Meta, TikTok, and X, have been engaging in extensive surveillance of users. The report highlights that these companies collect, use, and retain vast amounts of personal data without adequate privacy protections, particularly for children and teens. The FTC criticized the data privacy practices of these platforms as 'woefully inadequate' and called for tighter restrictions. The report also pointed out the exploitation of user data for profit, exposing users to various risks such as fraud and profiling. FTC Chair Lina Khan emphasized that these practices endanger people's privacy and expose them to numerous harms. Additionally, the report noted that these companies indefinitely retain data on the public, even if users do not have an account.