The $5 billion fine and accompanying order won’t force accountability or impose any restrictions on the way Facebook collects or uses people’s data, warned one of the FTC’s five commissioners.
It ain’t about the money: As it announced the fine yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission boasted that it has slapped Facebook with the biggest fine ever imposed on any company, anywhere for violating consumers’ privacy. But Facebook’s share price actually went up when news of the fine leaked last week. If you want to know why, it’s worth reading this dissenting statement issued by commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter.
What she said: Although it’s a historic fine and there are some accompanying (but not legally binding) promises by Facebook to behave better, it doesn’t change anything fundamental about Facebook’s practices, Slaughter said, and it won’t deter Facebook from breaking the law again in future. “Rather than accepting this settlement, I believe we should have initiated litigation against Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg,” she said. Another concern was a lack of public transparency. Although the FTC will have a bit more insight into Facebook’s practices, “the public remains entirely in the dark,” according to Slaughter.
Don’t settle for half the story.
Get paywall-free access to technology news for the here and now.