ALERT SUMMARY
1) As recently reported in the New York Times, The F.T.C. has moved to fine Google $150 million to $200 million to settle accusations that its YouTube subsidiary illegally collected personal information about children. The case could set important precedence for other popular social media platforms used by children in the United States.
2) The settlement would be the largest civil penalty ever obtained by the F.T.C. in a children’s privacy case. It dwarfs the previous record fine of $5.7 million for children’s privacy violations the agency levied this year against the owners of TikTok, a social video-sharing app.
3) The revelations were especially damaging because YouTube had pledged in 2017 to do more to protect families after reports of pedophiles cruising the site for videos of minors and leaving lewd or sexual comments.
Additional Alert Information
The news of the F.T.C.’s (Federal Trade Commission) settlement with Google comes at a moment when regulators and lawmakers in Washington and the European Union are challenging the power — and the aggressive data-mining practices — of tech giants like Facebook and Google.
Last month, the F.T.C. announced a $5 billion fine against Facebook for abusing its users’ personal data. Members of Congress this year have also introduced at least dozen privacy and transparency bills to bolster protections for Americans’ social media data, genetic data, facial recognition data and other kinds of information.
For additional details and Step-By Step Instructions on how to protect and respond to this Alert, follow the link below.
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