City
Epaper

Facebook set to pay $5bn fine for privacy violations

By IANS | Updated: July 24, 2019 10:10 IST

Facebook is set to pay $5 billion to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week as fine for users' privacy violations in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal involving 87 million users.

Open in App

The FTC has also fined credit bureau Equifax $575-$700 million for the breach that compromised 147 million users' personal data in 2017, Slate.com reported on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the FTC commissioners voted by 3-2 with Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition to the penalty on Facebook.

It is still unclear what the restrictions are on Facebook's handling of user privacy in the settlement. FTC and Facebook declined to comment on the story. But Facebook said in April that it expected to pay up to $5 billion to settle the probe.

The FTC initiated the investigation after a scandal involving former British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which was accused of illegally accessing data of more than 87 million Facebook users without their prior knowledge.

The FTC investigated whether Facebook's data sharing with the British firm violated a 2011 consent agreement signed between Facebook and the regulator.

The fine is the largest one the FTC has ever levied on a tech company. But it's affordable for Facebook, which brought in almost $56 billion in revenue in 2018.

There have been several incidents after the Cambridge Analytica episode where Facebook acknowledged series of privacy lapses, including the latest admission that it mishandled millions of users' passwords on Instagram and "unintentionally" uploaded emails of nearly 1.5 million of its new users.

Facebook was set to announce its second quarter (Q2) results on Wednesday.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: FacebookFTCCambridge AnalyticaEquifax
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalUK Watchdogs Urge Social Media Giants To Stop Children Accessing Platforms

MumbaiMumbai Cyber Fraud: Elderly Woman Duped of Rs 50.80 Lakh in Online Scam

MumbaiMumbai: Elderly Woman Duped by Fake Astrologer via Social Media, Case Registered at Byculla

MumbaiMaharashtra Cyber Steps Up Social Media Monitoring Ahead of Municipal Elections

TechnologyWhy Australia Is Banning Children Under 16 From Social Media? Here’s the Reason

टेकमेनिया Realted Stories

TechnologySAIL provides 4,000 tonnes of steel for 'INS Taragiri' warship

TechnologyIndia clocks unprecedented foodgrain output, boosts institutional support to farmers

TechnologyISRO chief praises NASA's Artemis II mission, says 'hopeful of grand success'

TechnologyIndia among top countries using Hormuz route to move oil tankers amid tough times

TechnologyIndian Railways to lay 1,929 km optical fibre cable in Gujarat, MP under Rs 398 crore project