Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Federal Trade Commission published a new report about social media platforms and video streaming services’ data collection policies, and the results are damning if not unexpected. The report, which was released on September 19th, found that these platforms not only surveil consumers but often retain vast troves of data indefinitely about users and non-users alike — and suggests they can’t be trusted to regulate themselves.
Given the billions companies stand to earn from collecting and monetizing user data, “self-regulation has been a failure,” the report says. “Predicting, shaping, and monetizing human behavior through commercial surveillance is extremely profitable — it’s made these companies some of the most valuable on the planet…