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Facebook's terrible privacy policies could result in a $5 billion FTC fine

Facebook's terrible privacy policies could result in a $5 billion FTC fine

Facebook is expected to pay a hefty fine to the FTC, upwards of a total of $5 billion following an investigation of privacy policies.

The fine is record-setting, as the FTC has never fined a tech company this much. The fine was mentioned in Facebook's Q1 earnings report, and it is expected to land between $3 billion and $5 billion.

This comes following a ruling by the FTC that Facebook had violated a number of privacy policies that involved users private information. According to The Washington Post, the FTC is looking to hold Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg solely accountable for the violations.

Facebook continues to deal with a number of other privacy scandals and investigations into its privacy policies. There’s a possibility that Mark Zuckerberg will face some heat from the FTC, which is accompanied by an SEC investigation, a federal criminal investigation, as well as inquiries from European regulators into Facebook’s practices.

This news hasn't deterred the stock market. Facebook stock rose over 10 per cent after the release of the report.

The definitive amount of the fine to Facebook still remains uncertain, according to Facebook’s CFO Dave Wehner. Alongside the fine, the FTC could also possibly impose new rules and regulations onto Facebook, which may make the company’s problems even worse.


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Staff Writer