Privacy Group Sues FTC to Challenge $5 Billion Facebook Settlement

A privacy-centric advocacy group sued the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Friday in an attempt to force the federal agency to charge the terms of its reportedly lax deal with social media giant Facebook.

The privacy group, known as the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), sued the FTC in an attempt to block the automatic approval of the FTC’s $5 billion with Facebook. While the $5 billion settlement serves as the largest agency against a technology company for privacy violations, many advocacy groups and politicians believe that the deal serves as a “bargain” for a company that reached $55 billion in revenue in 2018.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of the Senate’s most vocal critics of big tech, said last week that the FTC “utterly” failed to penalize Facebook “in any effective way” for violating Americans’ privacy.

The Washington Post found that the FTC wanted to levy a fine against Facebook in the “tens of billions” and impose direct liability on CEO Mark Zuckerberg; however, the Facebook forced the FTC to capitulate and only fine the company $5 billion.

EPIC said that deal between the FTC and Facebook failed to ensure privacy for Americans because it granted Facebook greater immunity from thousands of outstanding consumer complaints about issues ranging from children’s privacy, health privacy, and its use of facial recognition technology.