On Wednesday, Britain’s information regulator said it would investigate an official complaint accusing Google Inc.’s YouTube of improperly gathering data from millions of youngsters.
Father-of-three Duncan McCann, who is driving the campaign and supported by his firm 5Rights, filed a complaint alleging that the video-streaming site had violated the new rule by collecting “the location, viewing habits and preferences” of up to 5 million youngsters.
Governments have struggled to reconcile protecting social media users, especially minors, from hazardous information with free expression.
McCann said YouTube should redesign and remove its data.
McCann called it a big, unauthorized social experiment on youngsters with unknown implications.
A representative said that YouTube launched a kid’s app and implemented new data procedures to protect children and families.
“We are dedicated to continue our collaboration with the ICO on this critical topic, and with other key stakeholders including children, parents and child safety professionals,” the YouTube representative stated.
The ICO said it would thoroughly review the allegation.
“The Children’s code makes clear that children are not like adults online, and their data deserves real protections,” stated ICO Deputy Commissioner of Regulatory Supervision Stephen Bonner.
Britain’s Children’s Code requires 15 design and privacy rules to protect children, including location and personal data restrictions.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) penalized YouTube $170 million in 2019 for collecting children’s data.
