Nearly three-quarters of the most popular apps and online platforms directed at children are likely profiting from user data鈥攅ven if they claim otherwise, , a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that studies the impact of technology on youth.
Common Sense spent the past year scrutinizing the user agreements for some 200 platforms, including many of the most popular ed tech and platforms owned by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Many of those popular products say that they don鈥檛 sell user data.
That may be true in the sense that they don鈥檛 share users鈥� names, locations, birthdays, and similar information wholesale with data brokers or other companies, said Girard Kelly, the director of Common Sense Media鈥檚 privacy program. But that doesn鈥檛 mean they aren鈥檛 making money off information they get from users.
Instead of selling things like names and birthdays, the companies charge third parties for user profiles鈥攅ssentially information they have gleaned from tracking what a child or their family clicks on and looks at, and for how long. The data can include both activity within the app and sometimes across the broader internet, Kelly explained.
That allows the companies to get a 鈥渧ery specific, individualized list of preferences and behaviors鈥� for its users, even if there鈥檚 no name, phone number, or IP address attached, Kelly said.
That鈥檚 how it鈥檚 possible to follow a user from app to app or website to website and continue to encounter 鈥渢argeted ads or to pop up notifications or persuade them to purchase other things鈥� that might not even be related to the content of the app that sold their data. That means students see targeted ads even when using apps or platforms chosen by their school or district.
鈥淭his idea of profiling, of tracking, of target advertising, these are all ways apps make a ton of money,鈥� Kelly said. And companies aren鈥檛 upfront about this, Kelly added. Their user agreements often start with some version of: 鈥淲e respect your privacy, we would never sell your data. And then on page 50, they get into all the ways that they monetize your data 鈥� That鈥檚 where the unfair and deceptive trade practices come in.鈥�
Until recently, it was legal for companies selling this type of user information to claim that they don鈥檛 sell users鈥� personal data. That changed recently, at least in California, which passed the California Consumer Privacy Act earlier this year.
The law makes it illegal for companies operating in the Golden State to track users鈥� online behavior and sell that data for profit, while saying they don鈥檛 profit off user information because names and other identifiers aren鈥檛 attached. Most companies have yet to comply with the law, however, Kelly said.
鈥淭he laws are changing, and companies are not being transparent,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 rely on companies鈥� statements right now that they that they鈥檙e not selling [user] data.鈥�
His advice? Educators should instead contact the companies directly and work out a separate user agreement for their school or district that complies with state privacy laws.
