Original title: a fine of $5 billion is not enough? The US government may file new charges against Facebook
Facebook faces new FTC charges for misleading users.
A $5 billion fine may not be enough.
On July 24, Reuters reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may announce a settlement with Facebook (Facebook) on Wednesday, local time, to end the charges against Facebook on user privacy issues, and Facebook will pay a fine of $5 billion to obtain a settlement. The $5 billion fine is also the highest civil fine ever received by the Federal Trade Commission.
The US Federal Trade Commission began to investigate the improper sharing of 87 million user information between Facebook and Cambridge analytics in March 2018. The Cambridge analysis event pushed Facebook into a vortex of public opinion. Since then, Facebook has been more closely supervised and investigated by regulators.
It is reported that as part of the settlement agreement, Facebook will set up a privacy Committee, and Facebook CEO Zuckerberg must personally prove that the company is taking appropriate measures to protect users' privacy. Zuckerberg needs to provide certificates to the Federal Trade Commission on a quarterly basis, which will incur penalties if there are false statements.
However, the $5 billion fine may not end the U.S. government's investigation into Facebook.
According to a report by the Washington Post on Tuesday, the US Federal Trade Commission has made new charges against Facebook, saying that Facebook misled users in dealing with users' phone numbers and face recognition technology. The Federal Trade Commission also accused Facebook of providing insufficient information when providing facial recognition tools to 30 million users, the report said.
The Washington Post mentioned that federal regulators questioned the security function of dual authentication proposed by Facebook earlier. Facebook allows users to use the one-time SMS password sent each time they log in. However, if these users upload their contact information, advertisers can target these users and use this information without the user's knowledge. Earlier this year, some media and scholars discovered this abuse of telephone numbers.
The Federal Trade Commission declined to comment, and Facebook did not comment.
According to the Wall Street Journal on July 23, the securities and Exchange Commission may also reach a settlement with Facebook on the allegations that the company did not fully disclose its privacy risks. As part of the settlement, Facebook will pay a fine of $100 million.
The SEC also launched an investigation after Facebook fell into the Cambridge analysis scandal. Facebook is accused of not fully introducing to investors the situation that developers and third parties on its platform obtain users' private information without permission.