03/26/2018

The FTC is Officially Investigating Facebook's Data Practices

How the tech giant may have inappropriately shared users' information

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection confirmed Monday that has undertaken a non-public investigation into Facebook’s data practices, according to a statement from Tom Pahl, the agency’s acting director. The announcement comes just over a week after The New York Times and the The Guardian published explosive reports about the reported improper use of data belonging to 50 million Facebook users by the Trump-campaign affiliated data firm Cambridge Analytica.

This isn't the first time the FTC has investigated the social network's data practices. In 2011, Facebook agreed to settle charges—though admitted no actual fault—that it "deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public," among other overreaches.

The settlement barred Facebook from making further deceptive privacy claims, required it obtain a user's explicit approval before changing the way it handles their data, and mandated that Facebook receive periodic assessments of its privacy practices by third-party auditors for the next 20 years. It didn't carry, however, any financial penalties.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.