Facebook Faces A Record Fine Of Over Rs 178 Crore

Dhir Acharya - Jan 21, 2019

Although the investigation is still going on and US regulators haven't made the final decision, Facebook is expected to break the record of fines.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Facebook is facing a record possible fine because it allegedly violated a legal agreement between the company and the United State government. The agreement illustrates Facebook’s promise to keep user data private.

Officials at US privacy and security watchdog agency – the Federal Trade Commission, have been on the discussion to impose a record-setting fine on the social network. However, according to the Post, three individuals familiar with the information said the Commission hasn’t made their final decision yet.

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission began its investigation into Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica scandal came out. Accordingly, the UK-based political consultancy managed to access data from up to 87 million Facebook accounts while having no permissions to.

The Post said that the FTC is still investigating, but there’s a likelihood that the company will be fined at over $22.5 million (Rs 178 Crore), which used to be Google’s record in 2012.

Facebook refused to give comments while FTC could not respond due to lapse in government funding.

Previously, Facebook suffered from hefty fines in several countries, including Italy. Early December 2018, Competition Authority in Italy slapped the tech giant with a couple of fines, resulting in a total of $11.4 million. The fine was imposed because Facebook commercially misused user data in ways that violate Italy’s laws.

In October 2018, Zuckerberg’s company had to pay a $643,000 (£500,000) to the Information Commissioner’s Office in the United Kingdom. The fine, unsurprisingly, was also related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, affecting 1 million UK user or more.

Also, in November 2018, Facebook was described to the data privacy watchdog in Ireland as posing threats of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) violation regarding how the company handles its user data.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal happened over a year ago, but its level of seriousness has got Facebook in a series of troubles and who knows which is the next country to impose a fine on this infamous tech giant.