Skip to footer

FTC settles with Facebook over privacy violations

The FTC and Facebook have reached a deal over alleged privacy violations dating to 2009. But unlike Google, which earlier this week agreed to pay the FTC $22.5 million, Facebook won't be fined a penny.

|
Reuters
Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
  • By Matthew Shaer

The FTC has been busy. 

Just two days after Google agreed to pay a record $22.5 million fine for violating a 2011 FTC consent decree, the FTC has approved the terms of a second settlement – this time with Facebook. According to the FTC, in 2009 Facebook made significant privacy changes to its interface without adequately informing users. In addition, the FTC has charged, Facebook shared some user details with third-party advertisers. 

Under the terms of the settlement, Facebook, which has not admitted any wrongdoing, will allow the government to audit its privacy practices every other year for 20 years, the AP has reported. 

"The settlement requires Facebook to take several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future," the FTC wrote in a statement, "including by giving consumers clear and prominent notice and obtaining their express consent before sharing their information beyond their privacy settings, by maintaining a comprehensive privacy program to protect consumers' information, and by obtaining biennial privacy audits from an independent third party."

But unlike Google, which forked over tens of millions, Facebook doesn't have to pay the FTC a dime. Is that fair? Not really, writes Mario Aguilar of Gizmodo. 

"It's pretty unbelievable that Facebook gets to walk without even the tiniest slap-on-the-wrist of a fine," Aguilar argues. "Let's review: Facebook lures [lots] of people into its product with a false promise, violates that promise, makes billions of dollars off the violation, and gets away with it. Basically all Facebook is agreeing to do is what it promised us in the first place."

Do you agree? Drop us a line in the comments section. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to FTC settles with Facebook over privacy violations
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Horizons/2012/0810/FTC-settles-with-Facebook-over-privacy-violations
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe