Ashley Gold reports:
The Federal Trade Commission will announce Monday that it’s launching a new inquiry into the privacy and data collection practices of major tech firms including Amazon, TikTok owner ByteDance, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook as well as its subsidiary WhatsApp, Axios has learned.
The big picture: The move comes amid broader scrutiny for the industry and appears to be a wide-reaching inquiry into everything major tech companies know about their users and what they do with that data, as well as their broader business plans.
Read more on Axios.
FTC Commission Rohit Chopra announced it on Twitter:
Today, the @FTC launched an inquiry into the social media and video streaming industry.
We have ordered several firms to detail their user surveillance and behavioral advertising practices, including:@TikTok_us@Facebook@Amazon@Snapchat@YouTube@Reddit@Discord @Twitter
— Rohit Chopra (@chopraftc) December 14, 2020
Today, the @FTC launched an inquiry into the social media and video streaming industry.
We have ordered several firms to detail their user surveillance and behavioral advertising practices, including:@TikTok_us@Facebook@Amazon@Snapchat@YouTube@Reddit@Discord @Twitter
— Rohit Chopra (@chopraftc) December 14, 2020
I am concerned about how little we know about companies that know so much about us. As concerns mount over the scale and scope of corporate data collection, this study is critical and long overdue.
My statement with @CSWilsonFTC and @RKSlaughterFTC: https://t.co/CX1PdFhFPp
— Rohit Chopra (@chopraftc) December 14, 2020