The US Federal Trade Commission confirmed Monday morning that it has opened a preliminary investigation into Facebook’s privacy practices. The news came in a press release sent out Monday morning, and Facebook’s shares have already dropped more than 5% from opening.
The FTC serves as the consumer watchdog over privacy issues, so it’s no surprise that the company is investigating Facebook’s conduct in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data-sharing scandal. In its release, the FTC said that it has an “open non-public investigation” into Facebook’s privacy practices, which implies that a preliminary investigation has been opened, but not yet formalized.
“The FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers. 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,” the Commission said in a statement.
“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.” – READ MORE
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