The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday confirmed that it had opened an investigation into Facebook’s privacy practices following reports that data from 50 million users landed in the hands of a political consulting firm with ties to President Trump’s campaign without their consent.
Tom Pahl, the acting FTC bureau chief for consumer protection, said in a statement that the agency would be investigating whether the incident constituted a violation of a 2011 agreement that Facebook signed to settle charges over other privacy concerns.
“Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements,” Pahl said. “Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook.”
Multiple news outlets reported the investigation last week, but the FTC had declined to confirm it. Monday’s announcement is a rare move for an agency that typically doesn’t acknowledge such investigations publicly until after they’ve been concluded.
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#BREAKING: FTC confirms it's investigating Facebook's privacy practices https://t.co/tMETPsZRQZ pic.twitter.com/jbiH5mKf3S
— The Hill (@thehill) March 26, 2018
Glad I no longer have Facebook. Unfortunately, who knows how much of my personal information FB still has and may still be disseminating to others.
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