United States of America: Closed FTC Inquiry on Data Protection of Social Media and Video Streaming Services with publication of Staff Report

On 19 September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) closed its inquiry into the data protection practices of major social media and video streaming services with the publication of a Staff Report outlining large social media and streaming service practices and issuing recommendations. The Report of the inquiry reveals extensive surveillance and monetisation of personal information without adequate user protections, particularly for children and young adults. The inquiry, initiated on 14 December 2020, was based on a request for information to nine leading companies, including Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, YouTube, X Corp., Snapchat, ByteDance, Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp, for their data collection, usage, and sharing policies. According to the closing report, the companies share this data broadly, and in some cases, fail to delete user data upon request, as well as sometimes reporting no child users in apparent attempts to evade regulations under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The report makes a number of policy recommendations, such as urging congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation, fill gaps in privacy protections for teens over the age of 13, and stating that companies should examine their privacy policies and practices.