The FTC claimed on Wednesday that Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order and has caused more harm, especially with children. The commission is now proposing changes to the order that would impose stricter oversight and limitations on Facebook. The company is firing back with both barrels, calling the proposed changes a “political stunt.”
Ars Technica reports that on Wednesday, the FTC claimed that Facebook (now known as Meta) has not been taking sufficient steps to abide by a 2020 privacy order and has instead been endangering users. As a result, the commission is now recommending modifications to the decree that would subject Facebook to stricter regulation and constraints across all of its platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 21: FTC Commissioner nominee Lina M. Khan testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee nomination hearing on April 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. Nelson was a senator representing Florida from 2001-2019. (Photo by Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images)
“Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a press release. “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.”
The FTC claims that one of the most concerning issues is the claim that Facebook’s Messenger Kids product misled parents about who could communicate with children and who had access to their personal information. According to the FTC, a Facebook bug allowed “children in certain circumstances” to “communicate with unapproved contacts in group text chats and group video calls” rather than providing sufficient parental controls to stop strange adults from contacting kids.
With the proposed changes, Facebook would be unable to introduce new products on any of its platforms without first receiving written FTC confirmation of compliance. Additionally, the company would not be permitted to monetize any of the data it gathers on children across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus.
A report from an independent assessor who looked over Facebook’s privacy program and found “several gaps and weaknesses” in it that prompted the FTC to propose changes. The FTC claims that some of these flaws “pose substantial risks to the public.”
A Facebook spokesperson told Ars that the changes proposed by the FTC are “a political stunt,” adding that the FTC gave the company “no opportunity to discuss this new, totally unprecedented theory.” Facebook stated that the proposed changes are “a new low.”
“Let’s be clear about what the FTC is trying to do: usurp the authority of Congress to set industry-wide standards and instead single out one American company while allowing Chinese companies, like TikTok, to operate without constraint on American soil,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “FTC Chair Lina Khan’s insistence on using any measure—however baseless—to antagonize American business has reached a new low.”
Ars added an updated which states: “Facebook says that the assessor’s report did not find violations of the 2020 privacy order and noted that the two privacy concerns that the FTC raised were already discovered, fixed, and publicly disclosed.”
The most radical proposed changes include a blanket ban on the commercial use of user data who are under 18 and a moratorium on the introduction of new features, services, or products until the assessor has confirmed in writing that they fully comply with the FTC’s order. Additionally, the FTC has proposed further limitations on Facebook’s use of facial recognition technology, an extension of the 2020 order’s compliance requirements to encompass all companies merged under Meta, and a review of the 2020 privacy order to strengthen many of the existing requirements, such as “those related to privacy review, third-party monitoring, data inventory and access controls, and employee training.”
Facebook has 30 days to formally comment on the suggestions. The FTC will then decide if changing the 2020 order is in the public interest or is justified by newly available information or legal precedent. The decision’s outcome might have a big impact on how Facebook operates and protects user privacy across all of its platforms.
Read more at Ars Technica here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan