A US regulator accused Meta of using children’s data to make money

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is being accused by the data privacy regulator, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), of not using proper “parent controls in place.”

The FTC also added that Meta is using children’s data to make money. The company’s carelessness is putting young users at risk, and they are responsible for its nonfulfillment.

Meta defended itself, saying the regulator was using it as a political stunt and blaming them for transcending its authority.

According to the FTC, a separate examination discovered “several deficiencies and shortcomings in the company’s privacy programme” that posed “substantial threats to consumers.”

It was discovered that users under the age of 13 may still chat with contacts who have not been approved by their parents.

Additionally, according to the regulator, Meta kept its promise to revoke access to private data if users failed to use third-party apps within the previous 90 days.

In response, Andy Stone, a representative for Meta, called the action a “political stunt.”

While “allowing Chinese companies, like TikTok, to run without restrictions on American soil,” he claimed, Meta felt singled out.

He also charged that the FTC’s chair, Lina Khan, was hostile to American enterprise.

After it was discovered that Cambridge Analytica had obtained the personal information of tens of millions of Facebook users, the FTC filed a complaint.

The regulatory body has tried to limit some of Big Tech’s influence. However, businesses like Meta feel they are being treated unfairly.

Despite three years of ongoing communication regarding our agreement with the FTC, Mr. Stone claimed that the agency had given him no opportunity to bring up this novel, completely unheard-of theory.

But the FTC wants tougher measures to protect younger users because it thinks Meta “has repeatedly broken its privacy promises.”