Federal judge approves $5B Facebook-FTC settlement over Cambridge Analytica
“A federal judge on Thursday approved the $5 billion Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fine that Facebook agreed to pay last year over privacy violations stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal,” reports Chris Mills Rodrigo in The Hill.
“The settlement — reached in July and the largest in the FTC’s history — came after a lengthy investigation into Facebook.”
“The $5 billion agreement was criticized by lawmakers and other critics of Facebook who said the amount was too small given Facebook’s massive profits, and that it let the platform off too easily.”
“Several advocacy groups, including Public Citizen, Common Sense Media and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, had tried to stop the courts from approving the settlement.”
“U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, acknowledged the concerns in his opinion Thursday, saying they call into question laws governing technology companies.”
