Privacy concerns with Facebook

Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short (formerly known as Facebook), has faced a number of privacy concerns. These stem partly from the company's revenue model that involves selling information collected about its users for many things including advertisement targeting. Meta Platforms Inc. has also been a part of many data breaches that have occurred within the company. These issues and others are further described including user data concerns, vulnerabilities in the company's platform, investigations by pressure groups and government agencies, and even issues with students. In addition, employers and other organizations/individuals have been known to use Meta Platforms Inc. for their own purposes. As a result, individuals’ identities and private information have sometimes been compromised without their permission. In response to these growing privacy concerns, some pressure groups and government agencies have increasingly asserted the users’ right to privacy and to be able to control their personal data.

In September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission released a report summarizing 9 company responses (including from Facebook) to orders made by the agency pursuant to Section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 to provide information about user and non-user data collection (including of children and teenagers) and data use by the companies that found that the companies' user and non-user data practices put individuals vulnerable to identity theft, stalking, unlawful discrimination, emotional distress and mental health issues, social stigma, and reputational harm.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ Tolentino, Daysia (September 19, 2024). "Social media companies engaged in 'vast surveillance,' FTC finds, calling status quo 'unacceptable'". NBC News. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  2. ^ Del Valle, Gaby (September 19, 2024). "The FTC says social media companies can't be trusted to regulate themselves". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  3. ^ A Look Behind the Screens: Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services (PDF) (Report). Federal Trade Commission. 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2024.