FTA accused Meta for misleading parents about the protection of their children

FTC's proposed changes include barring Facebook


On Wednesday the US Federal Trade Commission accused Meta's Facebook of misleading parents about protection for children and proposed to work more on current agreement on privacy to include a ban on making money from minors' data.

 

Specifically, the FTC said Facebook misled parents about how much control they had over who their children had contact with in the Messenger Kids app and was deceptive about how much access app developers had to users' private data, breaching a 2019 agreement on privacy.

 

The FTC's proposed changes include barring Facebook from making money off data collected on users under the age of 18, including in its virtual reality business. It would also face expanded limitations in using facial recognition technology.

 

Meta shares fell as much as 2 percent on Wednesday but pared most of those losses and were off 0.3 percent at $238.50 (roughly Rs. 19,400).

 

Meta, which also owns Instagram, relies on digital ads targeted on the basis of its user's personal data for more than 98 percent of its revenue.

 

The company maintains the world's biggest social networks but is battling the short video app TikTok for young users' attention after it soared to popularity with American teens several years ago. The FTC move on Wednesday is the first step in the process of changing the 2019 agreement. Facebook will have 30 days to respond. The company also can appeal any commission decision to an appeals court.

 

The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.