The Cambridge Analytica scandal, where 50 million user profiles were stolen from Facebook by the data firm, has engulfed Facebook and rapidly unfolded into other scandals as users look at the data the company collects. And now Facebook has another problem to deal with; it’s back under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.
Facebook has been under FTC scrutiny before. In 2011, it settled with the commission over charges it lied to consumers about privacy protections. And it seems, if the FTC’s press release is anything to go by, that the FTC isn’t sure Facebook held up its end of the bargain:
Foremost among these tools is enforcement action against companies that fail to honor their privacy promises, including to comply with Privacy Shield, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act. Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements. Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices.
In other words, Facebook has some explaining to do. This isn’t the only government agency the company is going to have to speak with. Mark Zuckerberg has been asked to testify in Congress in a letter that makes it clear that if he doesn’t appear voluntarily, he’ll be subpoenaed, and the U.K. has ordered him to testify in front of Parliament. Even if that’s where it stops, though, the #DeleteFacebook movement is only gaining steam, and this will likely add fuel to that particular fire.
(via Axios)