The focus of the FTC’s investigation into Facebook’s data breach was whether the sharing of personal data of 87 million users with British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica violated its 2011 agreement with the FTC wherein it had pledged to safeguard user’s privacy.
As per a report from the Wall Street Journal citing sources familiar with the matter at hand, Facebook Inc’s potential settlement with U.S. regulators over breaches of consumer data privacy is nearing completion; any agreement is likely to include its WhatsApp messaging service as well.
WSJ’s report from in the wake of the Politico reporting on Wednesday that Facebook was negotiating a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create an independent privacy oversight committee; the potential agreement also includes FB taking steps to safeguard the privacy rights of its users.
The FTC has been investigating Facebook’s inappropriate sharing of personal data belonging to 87 million users with the now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. The FTC’s focus was whether this data sharing and other disputes surrounding FB violated a 2011 agreement with the FTC to safeguard user privacy.
Last week, Facebook had announced it has set aside $3 billion to cover the settlement.
As per WSJ’s report, it is not immediately known whether FB’s other services including Instagram, would be covered under the settlement.









