New York Times Report Calls Facebook's FTC Agreement into Question

A new report from the New York Times about the social media giant Facebook has called into question whether the company adhered to a 2011 consent decree with the FTC. One expert said that Mark Zuckerberg’s company operates “without any apparent sense that they have to follow the law, even while on parole.”

A recent report from the New York Times reveals that Facebook formed “data partnerships” with companies such as Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, and Yahoo, granting these companies access to vast amounts of user data. Now, a 2011 consent decree from the FTC on the topic of data privacy, that Facebook agreed to, has been called into question.

Politico reports that William Kovacic, the former FTC chairman who served on the commission from 2008 to 2009, commented on the latest revelations surrounding Facebook saying that now “the credibility of those big promises and the agency’s capacity to function effectively as a privacy authority” have been called into question.

The consent decree that Facebook accepted from the FTC in 2011 came after the agency accused Facebook of failing to protect its users’ private data. Facebook claimed that third-party developers only had access to the user data they needed for their apps to function, when in fact they had access to nearly all user data. Facebook’s settlement with the FTC required the company to develop a “comprehensive privacy program” and to conduct audits of third-party developers every two years. By agreeing to the consent decree in 2011, Facebook did not admit guilt in the situation but agreed to follow the FTC’s guidelines going forward.

In April of 2018, shortly after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, David Vladeck, the former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, commented on Facebook’s practices relating to the 2011 FTC consent decree, stating: “It doesn’t appear that Facebook had even the most basic compliance framework to safeguard access to user data. It is entirely predictable that if app developers are not held to their promises about data collection and sharing, they might not be candid with Facebook about their intentions. Yet it seems that Facebook made no effort to establish the bona fides of developers, much less verify or audit what user data app developers actually harvested and shared.”

Now with the latest news that Facebook gave third-party developers access to even more user data, many are questioning how the company has been allowed to operate this way for so long. Tim Wu, a former FTC senior adviser and a Columbia Law School professor, commented on the situation to Politico stating: “The latest revelations make the case for a breakup of Facebook stronger. The case for antitrust action has often been triggered by evidence that agencies can’t control a company.” He continued to add: “I’m shocked that Facebook committed these violations while under FTC consent decree, without any apparent sense that they have to follow the law, even while on parole.”

Facebook has defended the latest scandal with the company’s director of developer platforms and programs, Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, writing in a blog post: “To be clear: none of these partnerships or features gave companies access to information without people’s permission, nor did they violate our … settlement with the FTC.”

Whether further investigations into Facebook will take place remains to be seen.