The Cambridge Analytica scandal triggered a wider investigation into Facebook's data privacy practices.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal triggered a wider investigation into Facebook's data privacy practices.Credit:Bloomberg

The settlement puts in motion an end to a wide-ranging probe into Facebook's mishandling of users'personal information that began more than a year ago.

The commission opened its investigation in March 2018,responding to reports that the political consultancyCambridge Analytica improperly accessed personal data of 87 million Facebook users.

The punishment sets a new record as the largest penalty ever assessed against a technology company that broke a past promise to the government to improve its privacy practices - more than 200 times greater than the previous largest fine.

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The matter from here rests in the hands of the Justice Department,which typically must finalise such settlements,though the department rarely upends them.

"It's quite a substantial amount of money,and it sets a baseline[for] the Googles and Microsofts and Apples and the Twitters of the world,"said David Vladeck,a former director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection who is now a law professor at Georgetown University. He said the real test of the agency's work - to hold Facebook accountable for its missteps and deter other tech giants - would depend on final details that the commission has not yet revealed.

But some critics still assailed the commission on Friday for approving a fine that's small in comparison to Facebook's massive profits. Democrat David Cicilline,who oversees an antitrust panel in the House of Representatives,described the agency's efforts as a"slap on the wrist".

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Facebook in April had warned Wall Street it could face a fine as high as the one imposed,and it set aside a large chunk of it during its most recent earnings report when it announced it earned $US15 billion in quarterly revenue.

The commission and Facebook declined to comment.

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Cambridge Analytica developed a quiz app that harnessed information on those who installed it as well as their friends,a form of data collection that Facebook had allowed under an earlier version of its privacy policy. Such information may have helped the data firm create profiles of users so that clients could better target people with political messages.

But the commission's probe quickly expanded beyond the Cambridge Analytica incident to cover other privacy and security abuses at Facebook,including the revelation that it had provided popular websites and the makers of some smartphones and other devices with access to users'social data without adequately notifying them.

The consequences of the ruling for Facebook could be vast. The tech giant may have to document every decision it makes about data before offering new products,keep closer watch over third-party apps that tap users'information,and require its top executives,including CEO Mark Zuckerberg,to attest that the company adequately has protected privacy. Facebook had agreed to broad contours of those terms as part of confidential settlement talks with the commission earlier this year.

Once finalised,such a new settlement could go far beyond the 2011 agreement Facebook brokered. That accord required Facebook to give users greater notification about what happens to their data and how their personal information is used. The agreement also required Facebook to submit to 20 years of regular privacy check-ups from outside watchdogs,though those reviewers never once flagged a major mishap at the company for review.

Mark Zuckerberg was hauled before the US Senate in 2018 but did not show at other inquiries.

Mark Zuckerberg was hauled before the US Senate in 2018 but did not show at other inquiries.Credit:Bloomberg

But Facebook fiercely resisted an effort to hold Zuckerberg personally accountable,according to two people familiar with the probe who weren't authorised to discuss a confidential proceeding. If the company had walked away from talks,the commission would have been forced to challenge Facebook in court,potentially triggering a bruising legal battle over the social-networking giant's data-collection practices and the government's ability to regulate them.

"Rather than deter misconduct,the signal here is that the fines or monetary penalties will be a fraction of what they should be,"said Senator Richard Blumenthal."There is no reason for optimism,let alone confidence,that the structural or conduct reforms will be strong enough to really change Facebook's ongoing practices."

The Washington Post

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