London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 31, 2025

Amazon, TikTok, Facebook, Others Ordered To Explain What They Do With User Data

Amazon, TikTok, Facebook, Others Ordered To Explain What They Do With User Data

The Federal Trade Commission gave nine social media and tech companies 45 days to hand over details on how they collect user data. It is the latest move by government actors to regulate Big Tech.

The Federal Trade Commission is demanding that nine social media and tech companies share details on how they harness users' data and what they do with the information.

Amazon.com, TikTok owner ByteDance, Discord, Facebook, Reddit, Snap, Twitter, WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook) and YouTube were sent orders by the FTC on Monday to provide the commission with details on their data collection and advertising practices. The companies have 45 days to respond to the order.

Representatives for these companies didn't immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.

The inquiry is the latest move by federal regulators to crack the whip on Big Tech in an attempt to monitor their activities. Increased scrutiny by federal and state officials this year has pushed major social media websites and apps to answer for perceived improper uses of consumer data and violations of federal anti-monopoly law.

This order comes just a week after the FTC and 48 attorneys general across the country filed lawsuits against Facebook, accusing the social media giant of unlawfully maintaining a monopoly. The company has denied this claim.

The FTC's request for information covers a wide scope in order "to understand how business models influence what Americans hear and see, with whom they talk, and what information they share." The agency is using its authority under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, which allows it to undertake broad studies separate from law enforcement.

"Critical questions about business models, algorithms, and data collection and use have gone unanswered. Policymakers and the public are in the dark about what social media and video streaming services do to capture and sell users' data and attention," FTC Commissioners Rohit Chopra, Rebecca Slaughter and Christine Wilson said in a statement. "It is alarming that we still know so little about companies that know so much about us."

The commission wants the tech companies to detail how many users each company has, how active they are and what else is known about them. The inquiry also asks the social media and video streaming companies to hand over information on how they process the data collected and how advertising and engagement practices impact young, underage users.

The commissioners voted to issue Monday's orders in a 4-1 vote. Republican Commissioner Noah Joshua Phillips dissented.

In a statement, Phillips wrote, "The breadth of the inquiry, the tangential relationship of its parts, and the dissimilarity of the recipients combine to render these orders unlikely to produce the kind of information the public needs, and certain to divert scarce Commission resources better directed elsewhere."

Big Tech scrutiny


Lawmakers and civil and consumer rights groups have placed Big Tech under the microscope this year in particular, following revelations showing questionable practices by major websites and apps.

The Wall Street Journal has reported on how apps share user information with Facebook. The newspaper also recently revealed that Amazon was scooping up data from independent sellers and using it to create its own competing products. Amazon executives have denied this.

This summer, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Google's Sundar Pichai and Apple's Tim Cook testified virtually before Congress about Silicon Valley's perceived monopoly power.

During this hearing, Bezos acknowledged the $1 trillion company may be misusing data to push out independent sellers. He said the company is undergoing an internal investigation into the matter.

This year alone has brought major lawsuits against tech companies. In addition to the blockbuster lawsuit filed against Facebook last week, the U.S. Justice Department and 11 states sued Google, alleging the company violated competition law.

How these companies interact with underage users and what information gleaned from their activity has also been the subject of litigation.

In August, the parents of dozens of minors sued TikTok in federal court, alleging that the popular video-sharing app collects information about their users' facial characteristics, locations and close contacts. The company then sends that data to servers in China without users knowing and it is potentially shares it with the Chinese Communist Party, the lawsuit alleges.

The Trump administration considers TikTok a national security threat because the parent company is based in China, and it shares concerns that information from U.S.-based users is being collected by Beijing. TikTok denies these allegations but says it can share user information to its servers, if it chooses to, without breaking U.S. law.

Civil rights groups and consumer groups are urging regulators to go further and examine popular dating apps Grindr, Tinder and OKCupid.

The Norwegian Consumer Council published a report in January showing 10 apps collected sensitive information including a user's exact location, sexual orientation, religious and political beliefs, drug use and other information in a practice called "data harvesting." The apps then transmitted the personal data to at least 135 third-party companies.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
×