FTC Votes To Approve Roughly $5 Billion Settlement with Facebook Over Privacy Missteps
The Federal Trade Commission voted to approve a roughly $5 billion settlement with Facebook Inc. over a long-running probe into the tech giant’s privacy missteps, according to the Wall Street Journal.
WBJ stated that the 3-2 vote by FTC commissioners “broke along party lines, with the Republican majority lining up to support the pact while Democratic commissioners objected, the people said. The matter has been moved to the Justice Department’s civil division and it is unclear how long it will take to finalize, the person said. Justice Department reviews are part of the FTC’s procedure but typically don’t change the outcome of an FTC decision.
“A settlement is expected to include other government restrictions on how Facebook treats user privacy. The additional terms of the settlement couldn’t immediately be learned.
“An FTC spokeswoman declined to comment, as did a Facebook spokesman.
“Facebook said April 24 that it was expecting to pay up to $5 billion to settle the probe. A resolution was bogged down by a split between Republicans and Democrats on the FTC, with the Democrats pushing for tougher oversight of the social-media giant.”
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