Privacy group challenges $5bn Facebook settlement
EPIC first filed a complaint against Facebook over privacy violations in 2009.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A consumer privacy group has filed a challenge to Facebook’s $5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, saying it is not “adequate, reasonable or appropriate” and lets the social media giant off the hook for years of violations.
The Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center asked a federal district court in Washington D.C. on Friday to intervene in finalizing the settlement, which was approved 3-to-2 by the FTC.
EPIC says the deal, which also includes new privacy oversight and transparency requirements for Facebook, would extinguish more than 26,000 existing consumer complaints against Facebook that are pending at the FTC.
Facebook declined to comment. The FTC did not immediately respond to a message for comment.
EPIC first filed a complaint against Facebook over privacy violations in 2009.
US regulators on July 24 slapped a record $5 billion fine on Facebook for privacy violations in a settlement requiring the world’s biggest social network to "submit to new restrictions and a modified corporate structure."
The Federal Trade Commission said the penalty was the largest ever imposed on any company for violating consumers’ privacy and one of the largest penalties ever assessed by the US government for any violation.
