Contact:
Josh Golin, Fairplay ([email protected])
Fairplay statement on the Federal Trade Commission’s
Commercial Surveillance and Data Security Rulemaking
The following statement can be attributed to Josh Golin, Executive Director, Fairplay
BOSTON, MA —Thursday, August 11, 2022 —“We applaud the Federal Trade Commission for initiating this critical privacy rulemaking. We are particularly pleased that the FTC is asking the right questions about data-driven, personalized marketing to children and teens.
For years, Fairplay and our allies have called for an end to surveillance advertising to young people. Through the use of sensitive personal data collected on digital platforms, surveillance ads enable marketers to target young people’s individual vulnerabilities, to entice them with entreaties based on their geolocation, and to even target them based on emotional states. A leaked Meta memo showed the company bragging to advertisers that they could target teens at the exact moment they felt bad about themselves, and researchers were able to target ads to teens on Facebook based on their interest in dieting, alcohol, and gambling.
Manipulative marketing is not the only problem posed by surveillance on digital platforms. As the Commission rightly recognizes, ‘There is a growing body of evidence that surveillance-based services are addictive to children and lead to a wide variety of mental health and social harms.’
The internet plays an undeniably large role in the lives of children and teens in the US, from education to recreation and socializing. Young people deserve to explore the digital world free from manipulative surveillance. We are hopeful that this process will create essential new safeguards for children and teens online.”
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