FTC’s Holyoak concerned AI collecting children’s data

By Jody Godoy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said on Thursday the agency should look into how artificial-intelligence products use the data they gather from younger users, amid privacy and safety concerns.

Holyoak, one of two Republicans on the commission who could end up as its acting chair after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, said the agency should review what authority it has to gather information about AI privacy practices regarding children. 

The former Utah solicitor general gave the example of kids using AI services in the way older generations looked to a Magic 8 Ball (NYSE:) fortune-telling toy, asking, “should I go to the dance?”

“Who is collecting that? Who has that information? Where is that information going?” Holyoak said during a speech at an American Bar Association antitrust meeting in Washington.

The FTC enforces the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which regulates how platforms collect younger users’ data, and has sued TikTok over alleged violations.

The FTC is headed for a shakeup when its current chair, Lina Khan, steps down or is replaced by a Trump-appointed successor. Khan’s fight against corporate consolidation in the name of consumers won fans among Democrats and some Republicans, including Vice President-elect JD (NASDAQ:) Vance. But she has drawn criticism from some in the business community over her aggressive approach.

Khan has said that greater scrutiny of deals deters mergers that would illegally harm competition.

Holyoak said the FTC should not take a dogmatic approach towards mergers and acquisitions.

“We are not in the business of trying to stop deals to just stop deals,” she said.

Holyoak also said she thinks the FTC will lose its appeal defending the worker noncompete ban. Holyoak did not comment on vocal support for the ban from former U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz, Trump’s pick for attorney general.

“I think we all could benefit from the court and the Supreme Court weighing in on this issue,” she said.