Facebook’s privacy breaches
There was an agreement between Facebook and the US government back in 2012 that was to protect user’s data and make clear statements about their privacy that may have been violated as well. Last spring it was revealed that data on over 87 million users had been given to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, without the users’ explicit consent.
The UK has already fined Facebook last October to the tune of 500,000 pounds, a sum that is small compared to the amount being considered by US officials. The fine is equivalent to about $600,000 US and is being appealed by Facebook. The Washington Post claims that the US fine would be larger than the $22.5 that the FTC imposed on Google back in 2012 for tracking Apple Safari web browser users after it had promised it would not. On the appended video it is claimed that at least one analyst suggested the fine could be above a billion dollars!
In the 2012 agreement with the FTC, Facebook agreed that it had deceived users by telling them certain information would be kept private when it was not. The company had made such information as lists of friends and published posts, available to the public and this could be shared without the users’ consent. The FTC probably now thinks the agreement not to continue to do this has been violated.
Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal and similar incidents, which included a hacker accessing personal information on 29 million accounts, both members of the US Congress and advocacy groups called on the FTC to take action against Facebook.
Free Press, a media and technology advocacy group said: “Serious consequences are the only way to curb Facebook’s predatory behavior and change the industry’s amoral pursuit of growth at the public’s expense. This action should be the first of many taken by regulators and Congress in response to online platforms’ systemic abuse of their users.”
Another commentator, Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said: “The agency now has the legal authority, the evidence, and the public support to act. There can be no excuse for further delay.”
Findings and fine have yet to be finalized
The Washington Post claims that the findings of the FTC investigation and the total amount of the fine are not yet finalized.
Facebook representatives have met with investigators from the FTC throughout last year. It is not clear if Facebook will accept the fine if and when FTC imposes it.
The FTC has been a victim of the partial US government shutdown with many of its non-essential employees being furloughed. The FTC made no comments when asked by the news source, The Verge, nor did Facebook. Facebook’s actions and public statements are facing inquiries by several different federal agencies with respect to Facebook’s mishandling of millions of users’ personal files and data.
