The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, of not respecting children’s privacy and data regulations of young users of the social network, and of not establishing adequate parental controls.
The FTC also said that Meta should be prohibited from making money from children’s data.
“The company’s recklessness put young users at risk, and Facebook must be held accountable for its failures,” the statement said.
Meta fired back, calling the charges a “political stunt” and accusing the FTC of overstepping its authority.
The FTC said the independent investigation found “several gaps and weaknesses in Facebook’s privacy program” that pose “significant risks to the public.”
It found that users under the age of 13 were still allowed to chat with contacts that were not vetted by their parents, although Meta claims that children using the Messenger Kids app can only communicate with people when their parents approve.
The FTC also said Meta continued to give third-party apps access to private information after the company promised to end access if users didn’t use the apps for 90 days.
The FTC has proposed a number of measures, including a blanket ban on monetizing the data of children under 18, preventing the launch of new products until they are determined to be in full compliance with privacy regulations, and restrictions on the future use of facial recognition technology. In this regard, Meta will need to obtain user consent for any future use of facial recognition technology.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone, who called the FTC’s move a “political stunt,” said Meta is being singled out “while Chinese companies like TikTok are allowed to operate without restrictions on American soil.”
The FTC first took steps against Facebook in 2018, after it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica had downloaded the personal data of tens of millions of users of the social network. Because of this, in 2019, Facebook had to agree to a record $5 billion settlement.
The FTC has repeatedly sought to limit the power that technology companies wield. However, companies like Meta believe they are being treated unfairly.
“Despite three years of continuous engagement with the FTC on our agreement, they have not provided an opportunity to discuss this unprecedented new theory,” Stone said.
The FTC, however, believes Meta has “repeatedly broken its privacy promises” and wants to take stronger measures to protect younger users.
In a statement, Meta also said they have spent “tremendous resources to build and implement an industry-leading privacy program under the terms of the settlement with the FTC,” and that they will vigorously fight the FTC’s latest action and expect to prevail. .
Photo: Brett Jordan / Unsplash
Source: Informacija.rs by www.informacija.rs.
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