Senators urge FTC probe of alleged children’s privacy violations by Google | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"The pair of Senators who are calling for an investigation of YouTube's practices have pushed for new children's privacy protections.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ftc-google-youtube-coppa-childrens-privacy\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senators urge FTC probe of alleged children's privacy violations by Google\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The pair of Senators who are calling for an investigation of YouTube's practices have pushed for new children's privacy protections.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ftc-google-youtube-coppa-childrens-privacy\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" 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sizes=\"192x192\">\n<link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/cropped-cs_favicon-2.png?w=180\">\n<meta name=\"msapplication-TileImage\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/cropped-cs_favicon-2.png?w=270\"> <\/head><body class=\"post-template-default single single-post postid-76472 single-format-standard\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ftc-google-youtube-coppa-childrens-privacy\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.286259541985\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.604838709677\">\n<p> The pair of Senators who are calling for an investigation of YouTube’s practices have pushed for new children’s privacy protections. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"424\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google.jpg?resize=640%2C424&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google-1.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google-1.jpg?resize=768,509 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google-1.jpg?resize=600,398 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google-1.jpg?resize=253,168 253w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google-1.jpg?resize=508,337 508w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google-1.jpg?resize=1018,675 1018w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1018px) 100vw, 1018px\"><figcaption> Sign with logos for Google and the Google owned video streaming service YouTube at the Googleplex. (Photo by Smith Collection\/Gado\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"38.923046566693\"><body readability=\"78.224701195219\"><\/p>\n<p>Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday to investigate YouTube and its parent company Google based on evidence the video platform may have violated federal children\u2019s privacy law. <\/p>\n<p>The senators\u2019 letter to the agency follows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/17\/technology\/youtube-google-children-privacy.html\">a New York Times report <\/a>on research by ad transparency platform Adalytics that found YouTube\u2019s ad-targeting system served ads for adults on videos designated for children, potentially incidentally leading to the collection of data on users under 13. The Children\u2019s Online Privacy Protection Act requires that companies obtain parental consent before gathering data on users under the age of 13.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Times report, Adalytics found more than 300 ads for adult products on nearly 100 YouTube videos that the platform had designated as \u201cmade for kids.\u201d Clicking on the ads sent users to webpages that contain trackers, potentially leading to the collection of data on children.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first time that YouTube and Google have come under pressure for allegedly profiting off children\u2019s data. In 2019, Google and YouTube <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2019\/09\/google-youtube-will-pay-record-170-million-alleged-violations-childrens-privacy-law\">paid $170 million to settle<\/a> lawsuits filed by the FTC and the state of New York charging that YouTube had collected personal information from children without their parent\u2019s consent. Under the settlement, YouTube also agreed to create a system identifying children\u2019s content to avoid targeted advertising against children.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThere is no evidence that Google and YouTube violated their 2019 agreement with the FTC,\u201d the Times stated in its report.<\/p>\n<p>A repeat offense could violate the agreement it reached with the FTC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis behavior by YouTube and Google is estimated to have impacted hundreds of thousands, to potentially millions, of children across the United States,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markey.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/letter_-_youtube_potential_coppa_violations_-_81723pdf.pdf\">Blackburn and Markey wrote in the letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan<\/a>. \u201cAs such, YouTube and Google may have violated COPPA \u2014 as well as its 2019 FTC consent decree \u2014 in an egregious manner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Google vehemently disagreed with Adalytics findings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPersonalized advertising has never been allowed on YouTube Kids, and in January 2020 we expanded this to anyone watching \u201cmade for kids\u201d content on YouTube, regardless of their age,\u201d Farrell Sklerov, a Google spokesperson, told CyberScoop in an email. \u201cThe report makes completely false claims and draws uninformed conclusions based solely on the presence of cookies, which are widely used in these contexts for the purposes of fraud detection and frequency capping \u2014 both of which are permitted under COPPA. The portions of this report that were shared with us didn\u2019t identify a single example of these policies being violated.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Both Markey, who is the original author of the Children\u2019s Online Privacy Protection Act, and Blackburn are members of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has made children\u2019s privacy a top focus in recent months. Last month, the <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/kids-online-safety-act-senate-privacy\/\">committee passed<\/a> an updated version of Markey\u2019s COPPA 2.0 and the Kids Online Safety Act, which was co-led by Blackburn.<\/p>\n<p>Two groups that called for the 2019 investigation, Fairplay and Center for Digital Democracy, said the news article raises important questions about whether Google is complying with the 2019 settlement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe FTC must launch an immediate and comprehensive investigation of Google and, if they confirm this report\u2019s explosive allegations, seek penalties and injunctive relief commensurate with the systematic disregard of the law by a repeat offender,\u201d wrote Josh Golin, executive director at Fairplay. \u201cYoung children should be able to watch age-appropriate content on the world\u2019s biggest video platform with their right to privacy guaranteed, full stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\">\n<div 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{"id":1554,"date":"2023-08-17T18:45:36","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T18:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=76472"},"modified":"2023-08-17T18:45:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T18:45:36","slug":"senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2023\/08\/17\/senators-urge-ftc-probe-of-alleged-childrens-privacy-violations-by-google\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators urge FTC probe of alleged children\u2019s privacy violations by Google"},"content":{"rendered":"