NEW YORK:
Social media giants are collecting, sharing, and processing enormous amounts of user data with minimal transparency and limited user control, particularly when it comes to how that data is used by artificial intelligence systems, according to a report released by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday.

The report scrutinized data management practices of companies like Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok, Amazon’s Twitch, and others, concluding that their data retention policies were “severely lacking.” It highlighted concerns about how these platforms handle user data, revealing significant gaps in oversight.

YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Snap, Discord, and Reddit were also included in the FTC’s analysis, though specific details of each company’s practices were anonymized. YouTube is owned by Alphabet’s Google.

Social media platforms employ various tracking technologies to gather data, including online advertising methods and purchases from data brokers, according to the FTC.

“While highly profitable for these companies, these surveillance practices jeopardize people’s privacy, threaten personal freedoms, and open the door to serious risks like identity theft and stalking,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan.

Data privacy, especially for minors, remains a critical concern. The US Congress is currently debating legislation aimed at mitigating social media’s impact on children and teens. In response, Meta recently introduced new teen accounts with enhanced parental controls.

Meanwhile, Big Tech companies are racing to gather vast data sets to train their artificial intelligence models. These data deals often involve private content hidden behind paywalls and login screens, with little or no notification to the users involved.

Beyond tracking how users interact with their platforms, many companies in the FTC’s study collected personal details such as age, gender, income, education, and family status—sometimes even when users hadn’t provided this information directly.

Alarmingly, companies also gathered data on individuals who were not even using their services, with some unable to account for all the ways they collected and utilized this information.