US: FTC reportedly investigating YouTube over children’s privacy

YouTube may have a particularly strong incentive to change how it handles kids’ videos,  it appears to be under government scrutiny for its behavior. Sources for both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal assert that the FTC is in the “late stages” of an investigation into possible violations of kids’ privacy. Advocacy groups have reportedly maintained that YouTube is violating COPPA by collecting data for children under the age of 13, including through its dedicated Kids app.

The probe was initiated by a complaint last year from consumer groups that accused Alphabet Inc.’s Google of exploiting YouTube’s popularity with children to illegally amass data on minors under 13 without parental consent, the people said. The groups also alleged that the website subjected children to inappropriate content.

The company has said that in 2015 it created YouTube Kids, which doesn’t collect data on minors, in part to address concerns like those.

Full Content: New York Times, Wall Street Journal

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