Meta opposes the FTC’s efforts to tighten the privacy order
Meta Platforms rejected Federal Trade Commission plans to amend a 2020 privacy settlement with the company, arguing that such a move would require approval from a federal court.
An attorney for Meta told the FTC’s five commissioners during a hearing Tuesday that the consumer protection agency does not have the authority to change the agreement without the company’s consent.
In previous cases, settlement changes were “more technical corrections,” Meta attorney James Rouhandeh said. But when it comes to large-scale changes, “the committee does not have the authority to do that alone.”
The commission alleged last year that Meta had violated the terms of the 2020 settlement and sought to initiate a new proceeding to also ban Meta’s use of facial recognition tools and monetization of children’s data. Meta has been under a privacy consent decree with the FTC since 2012, but agreed to pay $5 billion (approximately Rs. 42,202 crore). and operate under stricter privacy requirements under the 2020 agreement with the agency.
The agency did not say when it might make a decision. With the election of Donald Trump as the next US president, his administration could abandon efforts to change Meta’s scheme once it gains a Republican majority at the FTC next year.
The company has filed several legal challenges to the proceeding, both in federal court and the FTC. Tuesday’s hearing before FTC commissioners focused on whether the agency has the authority to change its orders.
Commissioner Andrew Ferguson, one of the agency’s two Republicans who could become chairman of the next administration, asked several questions about why the agency opened an internal process to change the terms of the order instead of trying to bring Meta before the federal to contempt of court.
“It seems strange to me to say that when someone violates the order, the order should be rewritten,” Ferguson said, noting that the way the procedure was structured could leave a company “on the hook forever.” would stay.
Reenah Kim, a lawyer for the FTC, argued that Congress gave the agency the ability to change orders under limited circumstances and that it has used that power sparingly.
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