The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report that examines the data collection and use practices of major social media and video streaming services, finding that the companies engaged in vast surveillance of consumers in order to monetize their personal information while failing to adequately protect users online, especially children and teens.
The report, called A Look Behind the Scenes: Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services, is based on responses from nine companies to questions about how the companies collect, track, and use personal and demographic information, how they determine which ads and other content are shown to consumers.
Read more…
Source: Malwarebytes Labs
Related:
- Predator spyware allows full sensor surveillance on iPhones
February 24, 2026
Apple may have introduced colored status bar indicators in iOS 14 to alert users when the camera or microphone is active, but experts have warned this does not stop all malware. Spyware developed by Intellexa and Cytrox, dubbed Predator, can operate on compromised iOS devices without showing any camera or microphone indicators. Predator bypasses the indicator ...
- US Department of Homeland Security reportedly sent hundreds of subpoenas seeking to unmask anti-ICE accounts
February 14, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security has been increasing pressure on tech companies to identify the owners of social media accounts that criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to The New York Times. This echoes other recent reporting, with Bloomberg pointing to five cases in which Homeland Security sought to identify the owners of anonymous Instagram ...
- Ireland proposes new law allowing police to use spyware
January 22, 2026
Ireland is considering new legislation to give its law enforcement agencies more surveillance powers, including allowing the use of spyware. The Irish government announced this week the introduction of the Communications (Interception and Lawful Access) Bill, which would regulate the use of “lawful interception,” the industry term for surveillance technology, including spyware made by companies such ...
- StealC malware control panels could give experts the tools they need to spy on hackers
January 19, 2026
Cybersecurity researchers have managed to break into the web-based control panel for the StealC infostealer and gain valuable information on how the malware operates, and who both the attackers and the victims are. StealC is an immensely popular infostealer malware which first emerged a couple of years ago, and has since become one of the staples ...
- Firefox joins Chrome and Edge as sleeper extensions spy on users
January 19, 2026
A group of cybercriminals called DarkSpectre is believed to be behind three campaigns spread by malicious browser extensions: ShadyPanda, GhostPoster, and Zoom Stealer. Malwarebytes Labs wrote about the ShadyPanda campaign in December 2025, warning users that extensions which had behaved normally for years suddenly went rogue. After a malicious update, these extensions were able to track ...
- In 2025, age checks started locking people out of the internet
December 31, 2025
If 2024 was the year lawmakers talked about online age verification, 2025 was the year they actually flipped the switch. In 2025, across parts of Europe and the US, age checks for certain websites (especially pornography) turned long‑running child‑protection debates into real‑world access controls. Overnight, users found entire categories of sites locked behind ID checks, platforms ...