FTC Confirms Facebook Investigation
Tom Pahl, Acting Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, confirmed the Commission's investigation on Facebook's privacy practices following a week of privacy scandals.
Here is Pahl comment:
"The FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers. Foremost among these tools is enforcement action against companies that fail to honor their privacy promises, including to comply with Privacy Shield, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act. Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements. Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices."
Facebook said in a statement on Monday that the company remains "strongly committed" to protecting people's information and that it welcomes the opportunity to answer the FTC's questions.
Facebook shares briefly dipped below $150 on Monday for the first time since July 2017. The company has now lost more than $100 billion in market value in the last 10 days, when news reports first surfaced about Cambridge Analytica's use of Facebook user data in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
The company also faces discontent from advertisers and users. U.S. auto parts retailer Pep Boys on Monday suspended all advertising on Facebook, joining internet company Mozilla Corp which made a similar move last week.