Get to the COPPA: Google in Hot Water for Spying on Children

You think it’s bad that Facebook’s systems were taken advantage of? What if I told you Youtube was intentionally, illegally gathering data about children?

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed in 1998 to try to keep businesses from taking advantage of, and spying on, children online. Enforcement is handled by the FTC.

So it’s at the FTC that a new complaint was filed:

Google has made substantial profits from the collection and use of personal data from children on YouTube. Its illegal collection has been going on for many years and involves tens of millions of U.S. children.

Google claims that Youtube is not for children, but their actions suggest otherwise. There’s much content on Youtube aimed at children, and their business practices account for that. The coalition going to FTC alleges that Google has failed to take many legally mandated actions to continue to do what they’ve been doing.

Google’s core business is finding out information about you and selling it. Can they bring themselves to stop, or will FTC force them to stop?

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