September, 04 2019, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ed Mierzwinski, Senior Director, U.S. PIRG Federal Consumer Program, 202-461-3821, edm@pirg.org
Josh Chetwynd, Communications Manager, 303-573-5558, josh.chetwynd@publicinterestnetwork.org
Google to Pay Disappointing $170 Million Fine Over YouTube's Sale and Tracking of Ads Aimed at Children
If FTC can’t protect kids from YouTube manipulation, how will it protect everyone if a new federal privacy law is passed?
WASHINGTON
Google will pay a $170 million penalty to settle claims that YouTube "illegally collected personal information from children without their parents' consent" through its advertising practices, the Federal Trade Commission announced today. U.S. PIRG was a party to the original 2018 complaint led by the Center for Digital Democracy and the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood that resulted in the FTC's investigation and today's settlement.
Edmund Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG senior director for Federal Consumer Program, issued the following statement on the FTC's Children's Privacy (COPPA) settlement with Google and YouTube:
"The FTC gave Google and YouTube a light slap on the wrist for myriad violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It's deeply disappointing that the commission had a strong law to enforce against a powerful, recidivist wrongdoer accused of baiting children with nursery rhymes and cartoons to serve its advertising needs and opted to give Google what amounts to a parking ticket.
"Of course, this is exactly what lobbyists for 'big tech', the phone and cable companies and the digital advertising ecosystem want. They are seeking the enactment of a weak federal privacy law that preempts the states. But this would be a catastrophe because this settlement shows that if the FTC can't even protect kids from YouTube manipulation, how will it protect everyone if a new federal privacy law is passed?"
U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being. With a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students in state capitols across the country, we take on the special interests on issues, such as product safety,political corruption, prescription drugs and voting rights,where these interests stand in the way of reform and progress.
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Meta—the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and more—released a request for proposals to identify developers, citing its artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and sustainability objectives. It is "seeking developers with strong community engagement, development, ...permitting, and execution expertise that have development opportunities for new nuclear energy resources—either small modular reactors (SMR) or larger nuclear reactors."
The company isn't alone. As TechCrunchreported: "Microsoft is hoping to restart a reactor at Three Mile Island by 2028. Google is betting that SMR technology can help it deliver on its AI and sustainability goals, signing a deal with startup Kairos Power for 500 megawatts of electricity. Amazon has thrown its weight behind SMR startup X-Energy, investing in the company and inking two development agreements for around 300 megawatts of generating capacity."
In response to Meta's announcement, Johanna Neumann, Environment America Research & Policy Center's senior director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy, said: "The long history of overhyped nuclear promises reveals that nuclear energy is expensive and slow to build all while still being inherently dangerous. America already has 90,000 metric tons of nuclear waste that we don’t have a storage solution for."
"Do we really want to create more radioactive waste to power the often dubious and questionable uses of AI?" Neumann asked. "In the blind sprint to win on AI, Meta and the other tech giants have lost their way. Big Tech should recommit to solutions that not only work but pose less risk to our environment and health."
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In a May study, the Electric Power Research Institute found that "data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030—more than double the amount currently used." The group noted that "AI queries require approximately 10 times the electricity of traditional internet searches and the generation of original music, photos, and videos requires much more."
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Many large banks have pledged to reach net-zero emissions, yet they are still financing the LNG boom. U.S. banks are especially responsible, Reclaim Finance found, funding nearly a quarter of the buildout, followed by Japanese banks at around 14%.
The top 10 banks funding LNG expansion are:
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"Nearly three-quarters of future LNG export and import capacity has yet to be constructed," the report authors wrote. "This means that banks and investors can still act to put an end to the unrestrained support they offer to the companies responsible for LNG expansion."
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