FTC Says Social Media Giants Are Engaged in Mass Data Collection, Surveillance

The FTC found that the companies’ data collection, minimization, and retention practices were ‘woefully inadequate.’

Icons of social media apps, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp, are displayed on a phone screen in London on Jan. 3, 2018. Yui Mok/PA

Major social media and video streaming platforms are engaged in mass data collection and surveillance, putting people’s privacy at risk to generate billions of dollars in profit, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Sept. 19.

In a 129-page report, the FTC said that the platforms collected “troves of data” from both users and non-users, including children and teenagers, while failing to adequately protect their privacy.