A group of more than twenty consumer advocacy groups filed a federal complaint about Google, with a focus on YouTube. The complaint was filed due to YouTube collecting data on children and violating the “Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.” This is not too long after the “Cambridge Analytica scandal” on Facebook where a third-party company was using user’s data in a process that was called “data-mining”.

The complaint states, “[the] illegal collection has been going on for many years and involves tens of millions of U.S. children,” according to CBS News. If the complaint is found to be true, YouTube could be in the middle of its worse scandal yet. CBS News also states that the complaint adds to its claim by stating, “[the company] has made substantial profits from the collection and use of personal data from children on YouTube.”

As the majority of Don Lugo students are under 18 years old, some data from many students may have been used illegally. Don Lugo student Joseph Gonzales replied to this news with “Its not surprising, I mean everyone is on the internet and sometimes I think it is hard to differentiate between kids and adults due to kids being able to make fake profiles and changing their age, then YouTube takes their info by mistake.” Joseph Gonzales added, “I am not concerned about my data being collected though, whatever to better the world.”

With how many children use YouTube on a daily basis, it may be hard to say the exact number of children whose data has collected. Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood states, “It’s the most popular site for kids in the world, and Google actively encourages the creation of children’s content on the site.” In the past, YouTube has come under fire for not removing videos that were aimed towards children which were very repulsive to parents that would check up on their children’s video history.

Are you in any way surprised about YouTube collecting children's data?

• Yes
• No

View Results

 Loading ...