FTC Hits Facebook With $5 Billion Fine, Orders Better Privacy Oversight

Settled?

The FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION has fined FACEBOOK $5 billion for violating a 2011 privacy settlement. Furthermore, the NEW YORK TIMES reports that the social media giant must create "an independently appointed privacy committee on its board; designate compliance officers to oversee a privacy program; undergo regular privacy audits that its chief executive, MARK ZUCKERBERG, and others must submit to; and appoint an outside assessor to monitor the handling of data. 

Approved by FTC commissioners by a 3-to-2 vote this month, the $5 billion was the most ever ordered against a tech company and the new privacy conditions go further than the previous settlement between the two parties. But the agreement still didn't hold ZUCKERBERG personally liable for the privacy miscues, and the fine pales against FACEBOOK’s annual revenue of $56 billion. Most of all, FACEBOOK can still "gather, share and use people’s personal information" — which caused the problems in the first place.

While the three Republican Commissioners who voted for the edict were “proud” of the settlement, arguing that the measures “will provide significant deterrence not just to FACEBOOK, but to every other company that collects or uses consumer data,” the two Democratic commissioners claim the settlement did not go far enough, leaving "the American public vulnerable.” 

FACEBOOK still faces other regulatory and legal scrutiny. The SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION has just levied a $100 million penalty against it "for not clearly disclosing the risks around its privacy practices to investors." Authorities in EUROPE and elsewhere are looking into not only privacy concerns, but antitrust issues and its unwillingness to effectively monitor disinformation and hate speech.

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