FTC orders Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to provide details on personal data, advertising

Mike Snider, USA TODAY Published 3:28 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2020 | Updated 4:19 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2020CLOSE The Federal Trade Commission and 48 state attorneys general filed antitrust lawsuits against Facebook over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. USA TODAYThe Federal Trade Commission wants to know how popular social media and streaming sites such as Facebook and Twitter use your personal data.The agency has ordered those two sites, as well as Amazon, YouTube, Discord, Reddit, Snap, WhatsApp and ByteDance, which operates TikTok, to provide details on how they collect and use personal information.The companies have 45 days to respond to the FTC’s order with information about personal data usage, as well as advertising and user engagement practices, and how those practices affect children and teens, the agency said in a statement. Social networks connect users, but, over time, the initial goal “of connecting people or fostering creativity … has shifted from supporting users’ activities to monetizing them,” said commissioners Rohit Chopra, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, and Christine S. Wilson in a statement about the order. “Never before has there been an industry capable of surveilling and monetizing so much of our personal lives. Social media and video streaming companies now follow users everywhere through apps…
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