Facebook could pay multibillion-dollar fine for privacy lapses in 2018; talks underway with FTC

The U.S. government and Facebook are negotiating a record, multibillion-dollar fine for the company’s privacy lapses, reports have surfaced.

Facebook and the US government are in talks for negotiating a multibillion-dollar fine for last year’s privacy breaches, reported the Washington Post.

The penalty is said to be the largest fine ever imposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on a technology firm since 2012 when search engine giant, Google, paid $22.5 million penalty for privacy practices.

The fine has been imposed in the aftermath of the explosive Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2018. However, the paper reported that the talks are still on between both parties.

If the negotiation does not come to fruition then the FTC could take Facebook to court which could likely be a legal fight which could seriously harm the social media giant. Facebook has confirmed that the discussions are on, Washington Post said.

The FTC had started investigating Facebook in March 2018 after reports surfaced that consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had access to the data of 87 million Facebook users, putting their private information at risk.

This fine reflects a new area of scrutiny for tech companies after years of reported privacy concerns.