FTC says Meta may have breached terms of 2020 Facebook settlement, proposes youth data protections

FTC Facebook settlement overview: 

• Who: The Federal Trade Commission is proposing new changes to a 2020 privacy order given to Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company. 
• Why: The FTC is accusing Meta of violating the 2020 privacy order.
• Where: Facebook is used nationwide.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Facebook parent company Meta Platforms of failing to fully comply with the agency’s 2020 privacy order, and is now proposing changes to it as a result.

In addition, the FTC is accusing Meta of misleading parents about their ability to control whom their children can talk with its Messenger Kids app, and of misrepresenting the access the social networking company provided some app developers to private user data. 

“Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.”

The proposed changes would prohibit Meta from being able to profit off of the data it collects from users under the age of 18, as well as subjecting the company to increased limitations on its use of facial recognition technology. 

The FTC, which initially filed a complaint against then-Facebook in 2011 over privacy concerns, said it also wants to implement requirements of Meta to provide additional privacy protections for its users. 

Meta has already paid $5 billion civil penalty to resolve claims it violated previous privacy order

The commission secured an order in 2012 that barred the social networking company from being able to misrepresent its privacy practices, however the FTC would later claim Facebook violated the policy within only months. 

The alleged violations would ultimately help fuel Facebook’s involvement in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to the FTC. 

Facebook would ultimately agree to a second order in 2019 that took effect in 2020 and required the company to pay a $5 billion civil penalty to resolve claims that it had violated the agency’s first order. 

Further, the 2020 order — which the FTC says Meta has now violated — required the company to expand a mandated privacy program, as well an independent third-party assessor’s role in judging the effectiveness of said program. 

Meta agreed to pay $725 million earlier this month to resolve claims the company shared or otherwise made accessible to third parties the data of Facebook users and their friends without permission. 

Are you concerned Meta may have been violating its users’ privacy? Let us know in the comments! 

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