An FTC report has accused social media companies of vast user surveillance, inadequate data gathering practices, and profiteering.

The FTC just published results of a sweeping study of social media sites that has been going on for four years. The organization said that many social media sites and streaming services engage in “vast surveillance of consumers in order to monetize their personal information.

Meta, YouTube and other sites collected more data than most users realized, a new report by the Federal Trade Commission finds.

The report by the Federal Trade Commission claims social media and video platforms collect troves of personal information from activity across the internet for use in targeted advertising.

A years-long analysis shows that social media titans engaged in "vast surveillance" to make money from people's personal information, according to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).