Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/14/facebook-and-ftc-negotiating-m.html
Facebook is expected to be slapped with the largest fine the FCC has ever imposed on a tech company, but the exact dollar amount is yet to be determined.
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Unless the settlement includes some sort of transparency provision, it will be largely pointless. We need to know what they did, how they did it and what steps they are taking not to do it again. Some sort of NDA will essentially negate the entire exercise no matter how big the fine is.
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Wait. The FCC is doing something? When did this start happening?
(edit) Hah! I misread that. Whew. I thought I’d somehow stumbled out of this hellscape of a reality and back into a sane one.
Go FTC!
(edit2) Wait once again…
I guess I latched on to the first set of initials in the article, and skimmed the rest.
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They probably need that sweet sweet money
Negotiation?
You began violating privacy in year X, it’s now year Y, hand over all the profits between X and Y.
End of Negotiation.
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If facebook broke the law, it has no leverage to bargain from.
It needs to pay what the judge says or be dismantled.
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Where do I go to negotiate my parking fine?
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Quite a difference between the US agencies charged with protecting us against FB “negotiating a fine” and how the EU has come down on Google.
I agree, but that will never never happen. It would set a precedent that other companies with more influence in DC would not want to see on display. Also, corporate charters are carried at the state level so the state in which Facebook is registered would have the power to revoke FB’s charter.
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Man, these disturbing photoshops of public figures are getting out of hand.
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There’s still an FTC? Who knew?
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Honestly, bullshit. A fine is a joke.
Facebook should be broken up, they should have federal oversight working in their buildings and Zuck and Sandberg should be legally restricted from holding any executive position or board seat.
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Multi-Billion?
I guess Facebook is gonna pay for the wall then.
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So how much fine money will the people who were actual victims of the privacy breaches get?
…crickets
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A. Fine. Is. A. Price.
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Multi billion… multi billion… have I heard about a multi billion project that the government wants to invest in… someone jog my memory… WALL. Thanks for fucking up so bad Facebook that you are going to pay for a fucking wall to keep all the cool people out from the south. Dicks!
Delete facebook, and my phone that tracks me, and my Google account that tracks me, and my mobile provider that tracks me, and all of the devices i log into that track me, and my smart tv, and delete the account that i pay for to monitor and “protect” my identity before they lose my info again.
#Deletefacebook only partially solves one leak and scares no one in big data. We need a better solution.
I mostly just kind of laugh about the deletefacebook rally here while Boing Boing is an active FB advertiser.
If we are to have fines, then the fines really should be expressed in terms of net income, recurring net income, or net worth. Even then, IIRC Facebook has some sort of ludicrous silly-valley tech unicorn stock setup where regular stockholders get 1/10th of a say per share voting rights, so normal financial incentives don’t apply. Otherwise someone from Vanguard or Blackrock would pull the Zuck aside and say, stereotypically, “Marky, we love ya’, but you’re bustin’ our bwalls,” then quietly escort him off stage left.
Now that I think of it, that’s how to fine them: No monetary fine, but the FTC talked it over with the SEC and they’re making FB adopt only one class of stock.
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