The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Facebook’s privacy practices following a week of privacy scandals including whether the company engaged in "unfair acts" that cause "substantial injury" to consumers.
- Federal Trade Commission investigating Facebook
- Investigation comes amid privacy scandals
- 37 states attorneys general also demanding answers
Facebook’s stock, which already took a big hit last week, plunged as a result.
News outlets have reported on the FTC investigation last week, but the FTC hadn’t confirmed it until Monday. Facebook reached a settlement with the FTC in 2011 offering privacy assurances.
The chief law enforcement officers for 37 U.S. states and territories are demanding to know when Facebook learned of a huge breach of privacy protections.
The officers say in a letter Monday to CEO Mark Zuckerberg that users’ trust in the social media platform is "broken."
The attorneys general are asking how Facebook monitored what these developers did with all the data they collected and whether Facebook had safeguards to prevent misuse. Read the full PDF letter here.
They also asked Zuckerberg for an update on how Facebook will allow users to more easily control the privacy of their accounts.
Cambridge Analytica, a political data-mining firm, is accused of lifting data from some 50 million Facebook users to influence voters in the 2016 elections.
Zuckerberg is promising to do a better job protecting user data. The fact is, European regulators are already forcing him to do so.
A similar data breach in the future could make Facebook liable for fines of more than $1.6 billion under the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation, which will be enforced from May 25.
The rules, approved two years ago, also make it easier for consumers to give and withdraw consent for the use of their data and apply to any company that uses the data of EU residents, no matter where it is based.