Facebook crushed with $5 billion fine for privacy issues

Facebook privacy scandals are a dime a dozen. However, it looks like those dimes have added up to a $5 billion fine from the Federal Trade Commission. 

The fine was part of a settlement agreement between the FTC and Facebook, and it is the largest fine the FTC has ever slapped on a tech company.

What’s the full story?

In 2018, millions of Facebook users’ data landed in the hands of politically motivated actors in what has come to be known as the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. The data was used for politcal advertising purposes. This fine is largely in response to that scandal.

However, this also leads back to a promise Facebook made in 2011 and has since failed to keep.

In 2011, Facebook admitted to having deceived users about the privacy of their data. Facebook reached a settlement with the FTC and agree to be transparent about what was happening to their data, ask for consent before sharing their data, and give prominent notice before it was shared. 

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’d know that Facebook fails to keep this promise all of the time. 

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What’s $5 billion to Facebook?

Yes, $5 billion is an insane amount of money. The fact that it is the largest fine ever imposed by the FTC to a tech company is also pretty crazy. The runner-up isn’t even in the same ballpark: Google had to pay $22.5 million in 2012. However, $5 billion is a drop in the bucket for Facebook as a whole. 

Mark Zuckerberg is worth more than $70 billion himself, and Facebook as a whole is worth more than $100 billion. Heck, Facebook made about $55 billion in 2018 alone. 

That’s right. Facebook is worth more than a ransom from Dr. Evil.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Facebook compromised data from 87 million of its users. That means that the company is paying about $57 for every user’s privacy they failed to protect.

Don’t you think your privacy is worth more than that?

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Facebook’s other issues

The FTC has been probing Facebook for more than a year after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In that time, government agencies have unearthed even more concerning details about the social media giant.

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It almost seems like every week there is a new story that pops up about Facebook being involved in another scandal concerning privacy. Heck, we’ve covered so many that it’s kinda crazy:

Wrapping up

This is a step in the right direction, but Facebook still has a boatload of other privacy issues that they need to rectify. With nearly a third of the world’s population on Facebook, they need to be held to a higher standard to keep the privacy of their users safe.