Facebook is fighting to "protect the Zuckerberg" from the sanction in the US privacy investigation

Officials at the Federal Trade Commission are discussing the opportunity to hold Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally responsible for Facebook's privacy breaches, according to reports from the Washington Post and NBC News. Facebook tried to protect Zuckerberg from this possibility in negotiations with the FTC.

Federal regulators investigating Facebook "are exploring its previous privacy statements and wondering whether to look for new, increased oversight of its leadership," Post reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the FTC's discussions.

"Discussions on how to hold Zuckerberg accountable for Facebook's data errors have occurred as part of in-depth discussions between the Federal Trade Commission and Facebook that could settle the government's investigation, old of more of one year, "wrote the Post.

According to the NBC, FTC officials "are discussing whether and how to hold Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, personally accountable for the company's track record of mismanaging private data from the users. " However, NBC has stated that its sources "would not specify what measures are specifically envisaged".

According to La Poste, an idea raised during the investigation "may require [Zuckerberg] or other officers to periodically certify the company's privacy practices to the board of directors. "

But the probability of the FTC targeting Zuckerberg in a final settlement remains unclear. "Facebook has been fiercely beaten to protect Zuckerberg as part of the negotiations, said one of the sources close to the investigation," the Post wrote.

Facebook rejects the "recycled" scenario

When he was contacted by Ars, Facebook said, "These scenarios have been recycled for some time." The company quoted a Politico story from April 2nd. But Politico's story was more speculative: the FTC could use its authority to look for "new, more aggressive privacy auditors, even changes of management, until the appointment of CEO Mark Zuckerberg." ". And unlike the new stories of Post and NBC, Politico's article was limited to a theoretical possibility of targeting the FTC against Zuckerberg and did not claim that FTC investigators were planning to punish Zuckerberg themselves. .

With regard to the FTC's investigation, Facebook told Ars that she hoped to "reach a fair and appropriate resolution" with the commission.

The FTC reached an agreement with Facebook in 2011 after being accused of misleading users by breaking promises of confidentiality. In the run-up to this settlement, the FTC "considered and then gave up ordering Zuckerberg directly," the Post wrote. "If he did, Zuckerberg could have faced fines for future privacy violations."

The FTC's ongoing investigation began in March 2018, after revelations revealed that up to 87 million user information had been inappropriately shared with Cambridge Analytica. The FTC investigation is aimed at determining if Facebook has violated the terms of its 2011 regulation with the FTC. This policy prevented Facebook from misrepresenting the confidentiality or security of user information and required Facebook to obtain the explicit consent of consumers before making any changes that exceed their privacy settings.

Republicans hold a 3-2 majority on the FTC. Democratic commissioner Rohit Chopra wrote in a memo from May 2018 that "the FTC should hold individual officials accountable for violations of the orders in which they participated, even if these individuals were not named in the original orders".