Buongiorno,

mentre in EU è in atto un malcelato piano per _sabotare_ il GDPR (che
tanto è inapplicato, quindi serve solo a rompere le scatole agli
sfigati), negli USA c'è una fazione dell'amministrazione che sta
(ancora) tentando di introdurre una roba simile...

comunque, io mi chiedo come diavolo può essere che le stesse aziende
facciano /macelleria messicana/ coi dati degli americani mentre
/Qualcuno ™/ sostiene che lo stesso trattamento sia del tutto
compatibile con il GDPR quando si tratta di cittadini europei... ma sono
io che sono limitato!

Alberto Cammozzo via nexa <[email protected]> writes:

> <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/19/social-media-companies-surveillance-ftc>
> www.theguardian.com 
>
> Social media and online video firms are conducting ‘vast surveillance’ on 
> users, FTC finds
>
> Johana Bhuiyan

(il report completo in PDF di 129 pagine è qui:
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Social-Media-6b-Report-9-11-2024.pdf

di seguito il comunicato stampa pubblicato da FTC ieri 19 Settembre:

«FTC Staff Report Finds Large Social Media and Video Streaming Companies
Have Engaged in Vast Surveillance of Users with Lax Privacy Controls and
Inadequate Safeguards for Kids and Teens»

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

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---

A new Federal Trade Commission staff report that examines the data
collection and use practices of major social media and video streaming
services shows they engaged in vast surveillance of consumers in order
to monetize their personal information while failing to adequately
protect users online, especially children and teens.

The [staff report] ** is based on responses to [6(b) orders] issued in
December 2020 to 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.

The orders asked for information about how the companies collect,
track and use personal and demographic information, how they determine
which ads and other content are shown to consumers, whether and how
they apply algorithms or data analytics to personal and demographic
information, and how their practices impact children and teens.

“The report lays out how social media and video streaming companies
harvest an enormous amount of Americans' personal data and monetize it
to the tune of billions of dollars a year,” said FTC Chair Lina
M. Khan. “While lucrative for the companies, these surveillance
practices can endanger people's privacy, threaten their freedoms, and
expose them to a host of harms, from identify theft to
stalking. Several firms' failure to adequately protect kids and teens
online is especially troubling. The Report's findings are timely,
particularly as state and federal policymakers consider legislation to
protect people from abusive data practices.”

The report found that the companies collected and could indefinitely
retain troves of data, including information from data brokers, and
about both users and non-users of their platforms. The staff report
further highlights that many companies engaged in broad data sharing
that raises serious concerns regarding the adequacy of the companies'
data handling controls and oversight. In particular, the staff report
noted that the companies' data collection, minimization and retention
practices were “woefully inadequate.” In addition, the staff report
found that some companies did not delete all user data in response to
user deletion requests.

The staff report also found that the business models of many of the
companies incentivized mass collection of user data to monetize,
especially through targeted advertising, which accounts for most of
their revenue. It further noted that those incentives were in tension
with user privacy, and therefore posed risks to users'
privacy. Notably, the report found that some companies deployed
privacy-invasive tracking technologies, such as pixels, to facilitate
advertising to users based on preferences and interests.

Additionally, the staff report highlighted the many ways in which the
companies fed users' and non-users' personal information into their
automated systems, including for use by their algorithms, data
analytics, and AI. The report found that users and non-users had
little or no way to opt out of how their data was used by these
automated systems, and that there were differing, inconsistent, and
inadequate approaches to monitoring and testing the use of automated
systems.

Furthermore, the staff report concluded that the social media and
video streaming services didn't adequately protect children and teens
on their sites. The report cited research that found social media and
digital technology contributed to negative mental health impacts on
young users.

Based on the data collected, the staff report said many companies
assert that there are no children on their platforms because their
services were not directed to children or did not allow children to
create accounts. The staff report noted that this was an apparent
attempt to avoid liability under the [Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act Rule]. The staff report found that the social media and
video streaming services often treated teens the same as adult users,
with most companies allowing teens on their platforms with no account
restrictions.

The report also noted some of the potential competition implications
of the companies' data practices. It noted that companies that amass
significant amounts of user data may be in a position to achieve
market dominance, which may lead to harmful practices with companies
prioritizing acquiring data at the expense of user privacy. It noted
that when there is limited competition among social media and video
streaming services, consumers will have limited choices.

The staff report makes recommendations to policymakers and companies
based on staff's observations, findings, and analysis, including:

• Congress should pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation to
  limit surveillance, address baseline protections, and grant
  consumers data rights;
• Companies should limit data collection, implement concrete and
  enforceable data minimization and retention policies, limit data
  sharing with third parties and affiliates, delete consumer data when
  it is no longer needed, and adopt consumer-friendly privacy policies
  that are clear, simple, and easily understood;
• Companies should not collect sensitive information through
  privacy-invasive ad tracking technologies;
• Companies should carefully examine their policies and practices
  regarding ad targeting based on sensitive categories;
• Companies should address the lack of user control over how their
  data is used by systems as well as the lack of transparency
  regarding how such systems are used, and also should implement more
  stringent testing and monitoring standards for such systems;
  Companies should not ignore the reality that there are child users
  on their platforms and should treat COPPA as representing the
  minimum requirements and provide additional safety measures for
  children;
• The Companies should recognize teens are not adults and provide them
  greater privacy protections; and
• Congress should pass federal privacy legislation to fill the gap in
  privacy protections provided by COPPA for teens over the age of 13.

The Commission voted 5-0 to issue the staff report. [Chair Khan], as
well as Commissioners [Alvaro Bedoya], [Melissa Holyoak] and [Andrew
N. Ferguson] each released separate statements.

The lead attorneys on this matter are Jacqueline Ford, Ronnie Solomon
and Ryan Mehm from the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.


[staff report]
</reports/look-behind-scenes-examining-data-practices-social-media-video-streaming-services>

[6(b) orders]
</news-events/news/press-releases/2020/12/ftc-issues-orders-nine-social-media-video-streaming-services-seeking-data-about-how-they-collect-use>

[Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule]
</business-guidance/resources/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule-not-just-kids-sites>

[Chair Khan]
</legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/public-statements/statement-chair-lina-m-khan-regarding-social-media-video-streaming-service-providers-privacy-report>

[Alvaro Bedoya]
</legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/public-statements/statement-commissioner-alvaro-m-bedoya-6b-report-examining-data-practices-social-media-video>

[Melissa Holyoak]
</legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/public-statements/concurring-dissenting-statement-commissioner-melissa-holyoak-regarding-social-media-video-streaming>

[Andrew N. Ferguson]
</legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/public-statements/concurring-dissenting-statement-commissioner-andrew-n-ferguson-regarding-social-media-video>

--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

saluti, 380°


-- 
380° (Giovanni Biscuolo public alter ego)

«Noi, incompetenti come siamo,
 non abbiamo alcun titolo per suggerire alcunché»

Disinformation flourishes because many people care deeply about injustice
but very few check the facts.  Ask me about <https://stallmansupport.org>.

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