Facebook Privacy

Facebook Upping Privacy

One story in the news today which caught my attention had to do with Facebooks privacy, an issue we have been discussing in class a great deal. This week Facebook has been negotiating with the Federal Trade Commission (F.T.C.) to up its privacy. They want the social media company to create new positions that are primarily focused on strengthening the privacy of users data. It was reported they agreed to create a privacy committee and an external assessor appointed by Facebook and the F.T.C. The people in these positions would be at some of the company's highest levels.

The negotiations came as a result of the recent controversy surrounding allegations that the company violated a privacy consent decree from 2011. Reportedly data of up to 87 million users was given to a political data firm called Cambridge Analytica, who worked for Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. In their first quarter 2019 report, Facebook acknowledged the "matter" with the F.T.C. could cost the company anywhere from three billion to five billion in fines. You can see the full report by clicking here! If no agreement is made between the FTC and Facebook the matter has the potential to go to court.