How Big Could Facebook’s Fine Theoretically Get? Hint: Four Commas, and Counting
Former Federal Trade Commission officials have been pulling out their calculators in recent weeks trying to figure out just how big a fine the commission could levy against Facebook for its latest privacy mishaps, The Washington Post reports.
White former FTC chairman William Kovacic joked that the potential fine could total “more money than there is on the planet,” it’s unlikely the FTC would levy a fine so large that it would imperil the future of Facebook, report Craig Timberg and Tony Romm.
They write that David Vladeck, a former FTC director of consumer protection who oversaw the consent decree with Facebook, says he expects the commission to find new violations in light of the company’s revelations last week. Vladeck estimates the probable fines in the vicinity of $1 billion, a record for FTC privacy fines.
