On July 13, according to the US Chinese website, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and social media company Facebook have reached a $5 billion settlement agreement on Cambridge Analytical Inc. data breaches.
The Wall Street Journal quoted sources as saying on the 12th that the US Federal Trade Commission approved the settlement agreement with a 3-2 vote to end the investigation.
It is reported that this is the maximum amount that FTC has imposed on technology companies so far. In 2012, the agency imposed a fine of 22.5 million US dollars due to improper handling of user privacy by Google. It is reported that $5 billion accounts for about 9% of Facebook’s 2018 revenue.
The survey was launched in March 2018, after reports that tens of millions of Facebook users were leaked to third-party Cambridge analysts.
Currently, both FTC and Facebook have refused to comment.
Earlier in 2019, Facebook told investors that it expected to pay between $3 billion and $5 billion to resolve the investigation.
This statement has caused some critics to worry that the compensation will not allow Facebook to change its behavior and imposes more severe penalties on the company.