Scoop: FTC launches sweeping privacy study of top tech platforms

Details: The FTC is asking for a large trove of information and documents from the above platforms, plus Discord, Reddit and Snap.

• The agency wants much of the usage and engagement data the platforms collect on their users, the metrics they use for measuring such things and short- and long-term business strategies, among many other areas of inquiry.

Background: In launching the study, the FTC is using its authority to do wide-ranging studies for no specific law enforcement purpose.

• With this study, the commission particularly wants to look into how tech's privacy and data practices affect children and teens, according to a release seen by Axios.

• Republican Commissioner Christine Wilson had pushed for such a study last fall.

The intrigue: The agency's five commissioners voted 4-1 to issue the orders, with Republican commissioner Noah Phillips dissenting, saying the probe was too expansive.

Between the lines: The FTC uses these types of studies to gather data that can later lead to enforcement actions, should they encounter any wrongdoing.

• The agency early this year launched such a review of the last decade of big tech acquisitions.