Huge Fine Or Court Battle For Facebook and FTC

A multi-billion dollar fine that would settle the FTC’s investigation into Facebook’s privacy practices is the subject of settlement discussions, but neither the exact amount nor the details of the company’s admissions have been agreed upon. If talks break down the likely result would be a legal battle. “Facebook faces a moment of reckoning and the only way it will come is through an FTC order with severe penalties and other sanctions that stop this kind of privacy misconduct going forward,” said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut. The FTC’s investigation began almost one year ago as a response to reports about the company’s relationship with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that improperly accessed data on 87 million of the social site’s users. The inquiry focuses on whether Facebook’s conduct, including other privacy missteps made public since, amount to violations of a 2011 agreement Facebook brokered with the FTC to improve its privacy practices. Facebook has maintained that it did not breach that accord.