Facebook will have to pay a record-breaking fine for violating users’ privacy. But the FTC wanted more. | Washington Post

From a timely FTC reality check

"Some of the people interviewed for this story expressed concern that Facebook may not have had to admit guilt as part of the settlement with the FTC, either. In the agency’s 2012 privacy settlement with Google, the search giant similarly managed to deny “any violation” had run afoul of a previous order brokered with the FTC. The agency adopted a similar approach in a settlement announced Monday with Equifax, with the agency not admitting any wrongdoing two years after it left more than 147 million Americans’ personal data exposed.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans alike reacted to the Facebook deal with outrage, even though over the roughly 480 days that the FTC investigated Facebook, lawmakers had failed to pass a single privacy bill that might have empowered the FTC to be tougher on tech giants.

“If the FTC is seen as traffic police handing out speeding tickets to companies profiting off breaking the law, then Facebook and others will continue to push the boundaries,” Blumenthal and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a top tech critic, wrote in a letter to the agency earlier this month."

Facebook will have to pay a record-breaking fine for violating users’ privacy. But the FTC wanted more. | Washington Post