Early Wednesday morning, the Federal Trade Commission hit Facebook with a record $5 billion fine for privacy violations and failing to inform its users of widespread data leakages. This stands as the costliest privacy-based fine ever imposed on a company. FTC Chairman Joe Simons noted, “The relief is designed not only to punish future violations but, more importantly, to change Facebook’s entire privacy culture to decrease the likelihood of continued violations.”
The FTC is also mandating Facebook to restructure their approach to privacy by developing processes to identify privacy risks going forward. The FTC fine was also accompanied by a $100 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Comision in response to data and privacy negligence. Yesterday morning, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced major structural changes going forward, noting, “The next focus for our company is to build privacy protections as strong as the best services we provide. I’m committed to doing this well and delivering the best private social platform for our community.”
