The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is discussing a record-setting fine against Facebook for violating a legally binding agreement with the government to protect the privacy of its users' personal data.

The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating Facebook since last year. It has not finalized its findings in the probe or the total amount of the penalty, according to the Washington Post.

Facebook has talked with FTC staff about the investigation, one of the people familiar with the matter told the Post.

However, it is unclear if the company would settle with the FTC by accepting a significant financial penalty, which is expected to be much larger than the $22.5 million fine the agency imposed on Alphabet Inc’s Google in 2012, the report said.

The FTC did not provide any comment.

The FTC initiated an investigation on Facebook following news reports that the social media company had enabled a quiz app on Facebook to gather details on 87 million users and share it with British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.