Report: Facebook privacy lapses may lead to record fine

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO

Facebook may be facing the biggest fine ever imposed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations involving the personal information of its 2.2 billion users.

The FTC is considering hitting Facebook with a penalty that would top its previous record fine of $22.5 million dealt to Google in 2012 for bypassing privacy controls in Apple’s Safari browser, according to The Washington Post. The story published Friday cited three unidentified people familiar with the discussions.

In an automated response, the FTC said it was unable to comment, citing its closure due to the U.S. government shutdown. Facebook declined to comment.

The potential fine stems from an FTC investigation opened after revelations that data mining firm Cambridge Analytica vacuumed up details about as many as 87 million Facebook users without permission.

The FTC has been exploring whether that breakdown violated a settlement Facebook reached in 2011 after government regulators concluded the company repeatedly broke privacy promises.

The FTC decree, which runs through 2031, requires Facebook to get users’ consent to share personal information in ways not allowed by their privacy settings.

The FTC’s five commissioners have discussed fining Facebook but haven’t settled on the amount yet, according to the Post.