FTC Approves Settlement With Facebook Following Privacy Probe

WASHINGTON – The Federal Trade Commission has reportedly approved a roughly $5 Billion settlement with Facebook.

That’s according to the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, both citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The social media giant and the FTC both declined to comment.

The federal agency first confirmed its probe into Facebook’s privacy practices more than a year ago in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

That scandal, and scrutiny over Facebook offering more user data to companies than previously disclosed, raised the prospect Facebook broke an FTC consent agreement.

The 2011 agreement required Facebook to have a “comprehensive privacy program” and get “express consent” of users before sharing data.

A settlement approval would suggest the lengthy investigation could be nearing an end.