The Federal Trade Commission officially launched an investigation into Facebook’s data practices Monday.
The agency is exploring whether the social media platform violated an agreement from back in 2011 by failing to abide by its privacy promises.
But Axios managing editor Kim Hart says the matter isn’t cut and dry.
“Here’s the problem -- there are no real rules on the books that dictate how data from a company like Facebook can be shared or sold or used,” she said in an interview on Cheddar.
“As long as they are abiding by the privacy policies that they put out and the privacy standards that they tell consumers that they’re going to use, they’re in pretty good stead.”
Seven years ago, Facebook reached a settlement with the FTC over allegedly tricking users into believing that they could keep their data on the platform private when it was in fact open to third party apps.
Under that agreement, Facebook was required to “obtain periodic assessments of its privacy practices by independent, third-party auditors for the next 20 years,” according to an official statement from the FTC.
The increased scrutiny comes at a time when Facebook’s popularity is waning. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that just 41 percent of Americans trust the company will protect their privacy, compared to 66 percent who trust Amazon and 62 percent for Google.
A separate Axios study found that Facebook’s favorability fell by 28 points in just the past five months.
“It’s a pretty stunning drop that we saw,” said Hart. “It fell twice as much as the other tech giants did.”
This onslaught of negative coverage comes after news that data company Cambridge Analytica harvested data on tens of millions of Americans off of Facebook without their permission. It then sold that information to President Trump’s campaign team in 2016.
Since the revelation, Facebook shares have fallen by 13 percent. Initial news of the FTC investigation sent shares down an additional 6 percent Monday, but they recovered for a slight gain by the end of the day.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-under-fire-why-its-favorability-is-plummeting).
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
