The Federal Trade Commission will announce Monday that it will launch a new investigation into the privacy and data collection practices of key technology companies, including Amazon, Dictoc owner Bite Dance, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook and its subsidiary WhatsApp.
The big picture: This move comes in the midst of industry-wide scrutiny, and appears to be a comprehensive inquiry into what major technology companies know about their users and what they do with that data, as well as their broader business plans.
details: FDC asks for a lot of information and documents from the above sites, including Discord, Reddit and Snap.
- The use and involvement data that sites collect from their users, the metrics they use to measure things like this, and short- and long-term business strategies, the company wants in the midst of many inquiries.
Background: In initiating the investigation, the FDC uses its power to conduct extensive inspections for any specific law enforcement purpose.
- Through this study, the Commission particularly wants to examine how the privacy and data practices of technology affect children and adolescents, according to a report released by Axios.
- Republican Commissioner Christine Wilson proposed a similar study last fall.
Maneuver: Five commissioners of the agency voted 4-1 to issue orders, Republican Commissioner Nova Phillips disagreed, saying the investigation was too comprehensive.
Between the lines: If any errors are encountered, the FTC uses these types of surveys to collect data that could then lead to enforcement actions.