YouTube is targeting kids with harvested data that it is using to profit off under-age viewers, child advocacy groups are claiming, USA Today said.
The Google-owned platform maintains that all users must be 13 years and older to navigate the site, however, critics say the company is violating this restriction and enabling content targeting minors based upon data illegally mined from their devices and viewing habits.
A complaint to be filed Monday by 20 child, consumer, and privacy advocacy groups is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google for violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which limits how a company can gather data about children under age 13, CNN reported.
The document notes that the company has made "substantial profits from the collection and use of personal data from children on YouTube," and that this has been "going on for many years and involves tens of millions of U.S. children."
YouTube's terms of service say minors under age 13 are not permitted to use the site, however anyone with an account can access the content.
Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, argues that the platform is specifically targeting these younger audiences with "popular cartoons, nursery rhymes and toy ads," according to USA Today.
The complaint states that YouTube has considerable sway among children, which is evident in the creation of the YouTube Kids app, and that the platform is collecting personal information such as mobile numbers and geolocation from children under age 13 without parental consent.
"Just like Facebook, Google has focused its huge resources on generating profits instead of protecting privacy," Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy said, according to USA Today.
The advocacy groups are calling for Google to pay a fine of billions of dollars for profiting from its young viewers, but the company said that providing protection to children has always been a top priority.
"Because YouTube is not for children, we've invested significantly in the creation of the YouTube Kids app to offer an alternative specifically designed for children," a spokesperson said, per Wired.
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