Organizations complain to US FTC that YouTube is collecting data from children
A group of 23 organizations that focus on child protection and privacy, among other things, are requesting the American regulator FTC to act against YouTube’s violation of child protection legislation.
In the complaint published online, the organizations, including The Center for Digital Democracy and privacy organization EPIC, write that Google is violating the privacy rights of children with YouTube. For example, the company is said to have made ‘significant profit’ by collecting and using children’s personal data via the video service. The organizations speak of ‘tens of millions of American children’. This practice is said to be illegal because of restrictions on US law, in particular the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or Coppa.
The organizations want the watchdog to ban Google from committing further infringements. They also want the FTC to impose effective measures to ensure that the search giant complies with the rules. The argument is that YouTube is aware that children are using its service. This would be apparent from the separate YouTube Kids app, which shows content for children. However, children under the age of 13, whose parents, according to Coppa, must consent if data is collected, would also use YouTube’s main site. Google would collect data such as location, device information and phone numbers from these children and use it for targeted advertising. This would happen without parental consent.
Google told The New York Times that it has not yet received the complaint, but that “protecting children and parents is always our top priority” and that “it will read the complaint to see if things can be improved.” ‘. It adds, “Because YouTube isn’t for kids, we’ve made significant investments in the YouTube Kids app to provide an alternative just for kids.”
The complaint against YouTube follows previous criticism of the platform and discussion surrounding the use of personal data by online services as a result of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. According to recent rumors, YouTube is working on a variant of YouTube Kids, in which the content is selected by hand.