Tag: Federal Trade Commission
15. July 2019
According to a report of the Washington Post the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a $ 5 billion (approx. € 4,4 billion) settlement with Facebook. The settlement was reached between the FTC and Facebook due to various Data Protection incidents, in particular the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The settlement relies on a three to two vote – the FTC’s three republicans supported the fine the two democrats were against it- and terminates the procedure for investigating Facebook’s privacy violations against users’ personal information. The fine of $ 5 billion is the highest fine ever assessed against a tech company, but even if it sounds like a very high fine, it only corresponds to the amount of the monthly turnover and is therefore not very high in relative terms. So far, the highest fine was $ 22,5 million for Google in 2012.
The decision of the FTC needs to be approved by the Justice Department. As a rule, however, this is a formality.
This is not the first fine Facebook has to accept in connection with various data protection incidents and certainly not the last. Investigations against Facebook are still ongoing in Spain as well as in Germany. In addition, Facebook has been criticized for quite some time for privacy incidents.
21. February 2017
The German Federal Network Agency took the “My friend Cayla” doll off the market due to privacy concerns. The doll, which is equipped with a microphone, can answer children’s questions by the use of the Internet. Thus it was deemed as “concealed listening device” in accordance with section 90 Telecommunications Act (“Telekommunikationsgesetz”).
The Agency stated that the doll could be used for recording and transmitting children’s conversations without parents’ knowledge. Besides, it shall be possible to listen to children’s conversations by connecting with the doll via an unsecured radio link (Bluetooth).
After complaints were also filed in the US, the Federal Trade Commission decided not to take any action.
Meanwhile, the doll’s German distributor stated that “My friend Cayla” is not an espionage device and that they will challenge the Agency’s decision in court.
27. October 2016
The Federal Trade Commision just released Guidelines on how to act in case of a data breach. These are called Data Breach Response: A Guide for Business and also include a video and a business blog.
These Guidelines state the most imprtant steps to be taken in order to protect customer information:
- securing physical areas
- removal of improperly posted information from the web
- take service providers into account
- providing breach notification
- information about whom to contact in case of a data breach eg. law enforcement, affected businesses, and individuals
Furthermore, a model data breach notification letter is also included so that companies get to know the best way to alert concerned parties about an attack.
