U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) this week reiterated his ongoing concerns about protecting the online privacy of children, who now are being targeted on the internet by some of America’s biggest corporations seeking a fresh, constant round of imminent consumers.
“There is a growing body of evidence from child development experts, as well as former industry executives that technologies are being purposely made to be addictive,” said Sen. Markey, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
“And here’s the goal of all these companies — it’s like the tobacco industry — you’ve got to get them early because then they might be lifetime customers,” Markey said during a Feb. 14 committee hearing.
“You’ve got to get them at 11, 12, 13 and 14 and get them hooked. Make it addictive and then you’ve got them for the rest of their lives.”
During the Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, Senate lawmakers questioned the president’s nominees to serve on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s bipartisan agency charged with protecting U.S. consumers and promoting competition in the U.S. economy, a dual role that has presented myriad challenges over its last 100 years of operation.
The FTC has been challenged by the speed and innovation of technology and the resulting impact on consumers and economic competition. For instance, the FTC took some heat in 2013 when it settled with Google following a long investigation into whether the company had unjustly competed by manipulating search results, among other allegations.
Sen. Markey aimed to help solve a niche issue in 1998 when he authored the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which along with its accompanying FTC regulations established federal law that protects the privacy of children using the internet.
It’s a battle Markey’s been waging ever since.
In December 2017, for example, Markey and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the company’s recently released Messenger Kids app, which was designed specifically for children 12 years and under.
Impressed that the app was limited in scope and ability, allowing parents to set up profiles with their kids and connect them with friends or relatives through text and video chat, the senators nonetheless wanted Facebook to consider the sensitive nature of children’s personal information and ensure responsible steps were taken to protect their privacy. And the lawmakers said the app needed to comply with COPPA.
“While we appreciate Facebook taking steps to protect this vulnerable population by including parental controls, establishing an ad-free environment, and restricting some data collection, we remain concerned about where sensitive information collected through this app could end up and for what purpose it could be used,” the senators wrote in their Dec. 6, 2017 letter to Zuckerberg. “Facebook needs to provide assurances that this ‘walled garden’ service they describe is fully protective of children.”
Recent events have reinforced Markey’s particular concern about the addictive aspects of technology targeted to children.
For example, two Wall Street investors, activist hedge fund Jana Partners and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, in January released a shareholder effort calling on Apple to study the potential negative effects of heavy iPhone use among children, as well as solutions to mitigate those impacts. They collectively own about $2 billion in Apple stock.
During the Commerce Committee hearing, Sen. Markey asked the FTC nominees: “Will you each commit to a pro-child privacy protection policy at the [FTC] during your tenure if you are confirmed?”
The four witnesses — FTC chairman nominee Joseph Simons, antitrust attorney with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; two Republican commissioner nominees, Noah Joshua Phillips, chief counsel for U.S. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), and Christine S. Wilson, senior vice president for regulatory and international affairs at Delta Air Lines; and Democrat nominee Rohit Chopra, a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America — all responded yes in succession.
“I just think that’s going to be the cutting-edge set of issues,” said Markey. “I think it’s time for these industries to come under scrutiny; to be made accountable for what they are doing.”
Markey added that “the public health implications of this now epidemic of addiction among young people, especially in the minority community … is something that we must pay much higher and closer attention to.”
Additionally, the senator asked the FTC nominees what they would do under COPPA “to ensure the child-directed applications and the parent-directed processes are fashioned in ways that really protect privacy and ensure that parents can make informed decisions about their kids?” This would include investigations into data practices, enabling profiling and targeting across applications, devices and services, he added.
Chopra, who focuses on issues facing young people in his work at the Consumer Federation of America, agreed that COPPA and related FTC regulations must be vigorously enforced.
“Secondly, we’ve seen the market develop so quickly, in ways parents and society could not see coming,” said Chopra, adding that scores of data are being collected so quickly it could make heads spin. Chopra assured Sen. Markey that if confirmed, the nominees would “come back to you to address any issues if we don’t feel we have authorities,” he said.
Likewise, FTC Chairman Designate Simons said during the hearing that the FTC — which works with the U.S. Justice Department to enforce antitrust laws — should investigate large tech companies that reportedly use their power illegally and he would support being able to fine such companies if given that authority.