{"id":57147,"date":"2024-09-19T18:17:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T18:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/354fed48-47b6-4c34-b7b2-4bf060a1481c"},"modified":"2024-09-19T18:17:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T18:17:00","slug":"ftc-report-exposes-massive-data-collection-by-social-media-brands-how-to-protect-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/ftc-report-exposes-massive-data-collection-by-social-media-brands-how-to-protect-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"FTC report exposes massive data collection by social media brands &#8211; how to protect yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"c-shortcodeImage u-clearfix c-shortcodeImage-large\">\n<div class=\"c-shortcodeImage_imageContainer\">\n<div class=\"c-shortcodeImage_image\"><picture class=\"c-cmsImage c-cmsImage_loaded\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/a\/img\/resize\/1ac1b5c7b5fe776addf3e68e6942d3a22038274d\/2023\/08\/08\/4026a219-31dd-4548-aaf8-d5f49d828a37\/whatsapp.jpg?auto=webp&amp;width=768\" alt=\"BATH, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 01: In this photo illustration the logo of US online social media and social networking site 'X' (formerly known as Twitter) is displayed centrally on a smartphone screen alongside that of Threads (L) and Instagram (R) on Aug\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/a\/img\/resize\/a1ed5f5d7b34820b613e0436ed193a8ac6f8616e\/2023\/08\/08\/4026a219-31dd-4548-aaf8-d5f49d828a37\/whatsapp.jpg?auto=webp&amp;width=1024\" alt=\"BATH, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 01: In this photo illustration the logo of US online social media and social networking site 'X' (formerly known as Twitter) is displayed centrally on a smartphone screen alongside that of Threads (L) and Instagram (R) on Aug\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1440px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/a\/img\/resize\/e85e4d370c61bd827c9a2fbcfd3aabb944071480\/2023\/08\/08\/4026a219-31dd-4548-aaf8-d5f49d828a37\/whatsapp.jpg?auto=webp&amp;width=1280\" alt=\"BATH, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 01: In this photo illustration the logo of US online social media and social networking site 'X' (formerly known as Twitter) is displayed centrally on a smartphone screen alongside that of Threads (L) and Instagram (R) on Aug\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/a\/img\/resize\/e85e4d370c61bd827c9a2fbcfd3aabb944071480\/2023\/08\/08\/4026a219-31dd-4548-aaf8-d5f49d828a37\/whatsapp.jpg?auto=webp&amp;width=1280\" alt=\"BATH, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 01: In this photo illustration the logo of US online social media and social networking site 'X' (formerly known as Twitter) is displayed centrally on a smartphone screen alongside that of Threads (L) and Instagram (R) on Aug\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720.4571428571428\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><\/picture><\/div>\n<p> <!----><\/div><figcaption> <span class=\"c-shortcodeImage_credit g-outer-spacing-top-xsmall u-block\">Matt Cardy\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)&nbsp;<a href=\"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\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"c-regularLink\">report published today<\/a>&nbsp;follows the commission&#8217;s four-year investigation into how nine social media companies and streaming services collect and use consumer data. As it turns out, the data collection scheme is a lot bigger than initially thought.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested, you can read the entire 129-page report on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/reports\/look-behind-scenes-examining-data-practices-social-media-video-streaming-services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"c-regularLink\">FTC&#8217;s website<\/a>, but here&#8217;s a quick rundown. The agency first began looking into the shady business practices of the world&#8217;s biggest online platforms back in 2020. This list included&nbsp; Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, X (then Twitter), Snap, ByteDance, Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/article\/instagram-makes-teen-accounts-private-by-default-and-ai-will-be-checking-your-age\/\" rel=\"follow\">Instagram makes &#8216;Teen Accounts&#8217; private by default &#8211; and AI will be checking your age<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to the FCC&#8217;s findings, these brands gobbled up as much as they could from both &#8220;users and non-users,&#8221; going so far as to purchase information from data brokers. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/19\/technology\/ftc-meta-tiktok-privacy-surveillance.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"c-regularLink\">New York Times<\/a>, in its coverage, noted that these companies collected details like a person&#8217;s age, gender, education, and income.<\/p>\n<p>Not all platforms offer people a way to opt out of automated data collection and the ones that do offer that option don&#8217;t make it easy. Even if you manage to opt out and request data deletion, the FTC states that social media companies retain &#8220;sensitive information much longer than consumers would expect&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><!----><\/p>\n<p>When it comes to minors, things aren&#8217;t much better. The report points out that &#8220;many companies assert that there are no children on their platforms&#8221; as the services they provide are not meant for kids. Apparently, the report notes, that was all lip service to &#8220;avoid liability&#8221; as brands &#8220;often treated teens the same as adult users.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As the FTC&#8217;s report recommends key changes that policymakers can enact to protect people&#8217;s privacy, we can expect to see laws enacted to fill the security gaps. But who knows when that will happen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/article\/best-browser-for-privacy\/\" rel=\"follow\">The best secure browsers for privacy: Expert tested<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to protect yourself from data-hungry brands. We suggest familiarizing yourself with a platform&#8217;s privacy settings. Adjust these settings to limit the amount of data a website can collect like turning off location sharing and opting out of personalized ads.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Also, you could consider signing up for alternate social platforms with stricter privacy policies.&nbsp; For example, Mastodon is similar to X although with a greater focus on privacy. And we suggest installing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/article\/best-browser-for-privacy\/\" rel=\"follow\">protective browser extensions<\/a>. Our favorite is <a href=\"https:\/\/privacybadger.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"c-regularLink\">Privacy Badger<\/a> which prevents third-party ad trackers across the internet from collecting data on you.<\/p>\n<div id=\"pinbox-354fed48-47b6-4c34-b7b2-4bf060a1481c\" class=\"c-shortcodePinbox-carousel\">\n<div class=\"c-listingCarouselHorizontal\">\n<h4 class=\"c-sectionHeading\">Social Media<\/h4>\n<p> <!----> <span class=\"c-listingCarouselHorizontal_loadingIndicator\"><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>READ MORE <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/article\/ftc-report-exposes-massive-data-collection-by-social-media-brands-how-to-protect-yourself\/#ftag=RSSbaffb68\">HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world&#8217;s biggest online platforms collect way more data than previously known and make it very hard for users to opt out.<br \/>\nREAD MORE HERE&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zdnet-security"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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