The FTC staff report examined data practices of nine major social media and video streaming companies and found they engaged in vast surveillance of users with lax privacy controls and inadequate safeguards for children and teens. The report recommends limiting data collection, restricting targeted advertising, and strengthening protections for young users, and calls for comprehensive federal privacy legislation.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements with major social media/video streaming platforms, customer agreements for services integrating these platforms' APIs or SDKs, and data processing addendums. Focus on clauses defining data collection scope, consent mechanisms (especially for minors under COPPA and teens), third-party data sharing permissions, data retention periods, and security safeguards. Recommended changes include: implementing data minimization principles; requiring verifiable parental consent for children's data and enhanced consent options for teens; adding explicit opt-out mechanisms for ad targeting; limiting retention to what is necessary; strengthening default privacy settings for younger users; and ensuring contractual obligations align with COPPA and emerging youth protection standards.
Entity
Major Social Media and Video Streaming Companies (Amazon, Meta, YouTube, X, Snap, TikTok, Discord, Reddit, WhatsApp)
Also known as: Major Social Media and Video Streaming Companies
Industry
Social MediaOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/09/ftc-staff-report-finds-large-social-media-video-streaming-companies-have-engaged-vast-surveillance
look behind scenes examining data practices social media vid
https://www.ftc.gov/reports/look-behind-scenes-examining-data-practices-social-media-video-streaming-services
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"nine companies including some of the largest social media and video streaming services: Amazon.com, Inc., which owns the gaming platform Twitch; Facebook, Inc. (now Meta Platforms, Inc.); YouTube LLC; Twitter, Inc. (now X Corp.); Snap Inc.; ByteDance Ltd., which owns the video-sharing platform TikTok; Discord Inc.; Reddit, Inc.; and WhatsApp Inc."
"Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule"
"engaged in vast surveillance of consumers in order to monetize their personal information while failing to adequately protect users online, especially children and teens."
$750K
The FTC finalized an order against Vanilla Chip LLC (doing business as TruHeight) and its principals for deceptively advertising height-enhancing supplements for children and teens without scientific evidence. The company also used fake reviews and incentivized 5-star ratings. The order requires a $750,000 payment and prohibits false health claims and deceptive review practices.
$2.3M
The FTC alleged that RentGrow, a tenant screening company, violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to use reasonable procedures to ensure the accuracy of its reports, including by reporting duplicate records and failing to disclose data sources. RentGrow agreed to pay a $2.25 million penalty and is prohibited from further FCRA violations and from misrepresenting dispute outcomes.
The FTC and New York Attorney General took action against Handy Technologies for deceptive earnings claims and failure to disclose fees and fines that led to millions of dollars being withheld from workers' wages. The FTC is sending over $2.7 million in refunds to 62,893 affected consumers.
$35.0M
The FTC alleged that Hopper, a travel booking app, charged consumers hidden and pre-selected fees (Tip and VIP Support) without their consent, misrepresented the benefits of VIP Support and Price Freeze services, and failed to clearly disclose total prices. Hopper agreed to pay $35 million for consumer redress and is prohibited from misrepresenting fees under a proposed order.
$1.5M
The FTC finalized a settlement with Publishing.com LLC and its principals for misleading consumers about potential earnings from self-publishing products. The company will pay $1.5 million and is prohibited from making unsubstantiated earnings claims, failing to disclose refund terms, and misrepresenting endorsements and reviews.
The FTC is seeking public comment on a proposed policy statement addressing concerns that AI companies may be manipulating AI system outputs contrary to consumer expectations for objectivity and accuracy. The statement explains that such conduct could be considered deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The public comment period runs until July 31, 2026.