SAN FRANCISCO, California — A years long analysis shows that social media titans engaged in 'vast surveillance' to make money from people's personal information, according to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
A report based on queries launched nearly four years ago aimed at nine companies found they collected troves of data, sometimes through data brokers and could indefinitely retain the information collected about users and nonusers of their platforms.
CONCERN A person looks at a smartphone with an Instagram logo displayed on the screen on Aug. 17, 2021. The US Federal Trade Commission issued a report stating that social media giants have been making money off subscribers’ personal information through ‘vast surveillance.’ AFP PHOTO