FTC ordered Facebook to set up a privacy committee

As part of a deal with the FTC, Facebook may need to set up an independent privacy committee to report on the company’s operations. There may also be a need for more privacy-conscious people in the top layers of Facebook.

This committee would meet quarterly and prepare reports on the privacy practices of the social media company. Politico writes this on the basis of an anonymous source who is involved in the discussions between the Federal Trade Commission and Facebook. It is as yet unclear how large this privacy commission should be and what power it would have over Facebook. However, board members of the internet giant may need to be included.

The source does not clarify how many privacy-conscious employees Facebook will have to hire as part of the agreement. However, there should be a government-approved privacy officer in the top layer of the company. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg should be given the role of a compliance officer, which would make him personally responsible for Facebook’s compliance with its own privacy policy.

The source emphasizes that the talks are still ongoing and parts of the agreement could change or expire. In addition, an upcoming privacy fine is part of this deal; Facebook expects the amount to be between three to five billion dollars, according to the company’s quarterly figures. The agreement will not be official until a majority of the FTC’s five committee members agree. If Facebook and the FTC can’t agree on a deal, it could lead to a lawsuit.

The deal between the two parties is the result of an FTC investigation into the platform’s privacy practices. The investigation followed after it was revealed last year that Cambridge Analytica was able to collect the data of at least 87 million users. Facebook has repeatedly promised to get better and at the beginning of March Zuckerberg said that Facebook should become a platform with a focus on privacy.