Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook group has reached an amicable agreement with the US Communications Regulatory Authority but has an independent privacy committee.
The penalty was negotiated and the axe fell as expected after a lengthy procedure. The FTC, the federal regulator of communications, imposed on Wednesday a record fine of $ 5 billion (€ 4.48 billion) to Facebook for “cheating” users of the Facebook social network.
The multinational now has a week to make a record transfer, according to the judgment issued by a court in Washington DC
The reproach? Not having managed to protect the personal data of the members as the social network to the 2 billion users assured it. The Silicon Valley giant is paying for a series of data leak scandals as the most iconic episode in the use of members’ personal information by third-party company Cambridge Analytica.
A major setback for Zuckerberg
Incidentally, the leaders of this company are also sanctioned for illegally used personal data of members of Facebook.
This is the largest fine ever imposed for violation of consumer privacy, and one of the largest ever issued by the US government, all offences combined.
In its decision, the federal authority also imposes profound changes that will affect WhatsApp, Messenger but also Instagram.
The snub is also personal to the CEO and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg auditioned by the US Senate last year as part of this investigation and who had already admitted
The authority mandates the establishment of an independent committee on privacy, “thus removing the absolute control of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, on decisions affecting the confidentiality of users” according to the official statement of the FTC.
Facebook assessed $5 billion penalty, subjected to sweeping new restrictions on user privacy decisions to settle FTC charges the company violated a 2012 FTC order by deceiving users about their ability to control privacy of their personal info. Read more: https://t.co/NYx2JnKmJV pic.twitter.com/7KVd3Vg02J
— FTC (@FTC) 24 July 2019
In the same binding spirit as the European General Regulations on Data Protection (GDPR), Facebook will also have to appoint “officers responsible for the program on privacy” that can not be revoked by Facebook.
“This agreement will require a fundamental change in the way we work,” Facebook said in a statement. “The type of responsibility required by this agreement goes further than US law and we hope it will be a model for the entire industry.”
The social network is committed to adding features that allow users to better control their privacy at all levels of the platform, and to provide regular reports on the risks, issues and solutions put in place to ensure privacy.
This condemnation, even negotiated, should profoundly change the habits of companies in Silicon Valley that enjoyed until now some immunity despite several road trips on the exploitation of our personal data.
