Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Monday 15 July 2019
More to come: FTC fine doesn’t spell closure for Facebook

By BARBARA ORTUTAY vent discrimination, not
AP Technology Writer just in housing listings but
Facebook may be close in credit and employment
to putting a Federal Trade ads as well. The move was
Commission investigation part of a settlement with
behind it. But it faces a va- the American Civil Liberties
riety of other probes in Eu- Union and other activists.
rope and the U.S., some of But HUD didn’t join the set-
which could present it with tlement. Facebook says it
even bigger headaches. continues to work with civil
While the $5 billion fine from rights experts on the issues.
the FTC, which Facebook — Canada’s privacy czar
has been expecting, is by In more fallout from Cam-
far the largest the agency bridge Analytica, Can-
has levied on a technology ada’s privacy head an-
company, the real worries nounced in April that he is
for Facebook — and its in- taking Facebook to court
vestors and the companies after finding that lax pri-
that use it to advertise on its vacy practices allowed
service — are the other re- personal information to be
strictions and government used for political purposes.
oversight that might come A joint report from privacy
with it. This goes for the In this April 30, 2019, file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes the keynote speech at commissioner Daniel Ther-
other investigations as well, F8, Facebook’s developer conference in San Jose, Calif. rien and his British Colum-
which span the globe from Associated Press bia counterpart said major
the European Union, Ger- big companies also face fines, but additional restric- certain. The commission, shortcomings were uncov-
many, and Belgium to New broader antitrust concerns tions on its business. which handles online data ered in Facebook’s proce-
York, Canada and else- .Facebook has enjoyed — Irish Data Protection regulation for the Europe- dures. It called for stronger
where. “This fine signals that more than a decade of Commission an Union, has nearly a doz- laws to protect Canadians.
regulators are ratcheting unfettered growth as Sili- Ireland’s data regulator en open investigations on Facebook says it is taking
up the pressure,” said Dimi- con Valley’s golden child, has launched an investi- Facebook that include its the investigation seriously.
tri Sirota, the CEO of BigID, trusted to regulate itself gation of Facebook over subsidiaries WhatsApp and — U.K., Belgium, Germany
a business data privacy and keep its 2.4 billion us- the Cambridge Analytica Instagram, which could In October, British regula-
company, in an email. He ers’ interests at heart. data leak last year. At issue carry additional . Face- tors slapped Facebook with
said that the FTC action, Then came Russian med- is whether the company book says it is cooperating a fine of 500,000 pounds
together with recent Eu- dling in the 2016 elections, complied with strict Euro- with the investigations. ($644,000) — the maximum
ropean fines on British Air- fake news and the Cam- pean regulations that went — U.S. Housing and Urban possible — for failing to pro-
ways and Marriott, shows bridge Analytica scandal, into effect in May 2018 Development tect the privacy of its users
that regulators around the in which a political data covering data protection. The U.S. government in the Cambridge Analyti-
world are getting bolder in mining firm affiliated with Under the new rules, com- charged Facebook with ca scandal.
cracking down on data pri- the 2016 presidential cam- panies could be hit with high-tech housing discrimi- The company said it is ap-
vacy violations. Facebook paign of Donald Trump im- fines equal to 4 percent of nation in March for alleg- pealing the fine, so the
may think the fine is easily properly accessed the per- annual global turnover for edly allowing landlords and matter is still, technically,
affordable, he said, but it sonal data of as many as the most serious violations. real estate brokers to sys- unresolved.
hurts its image and trust- 87 million users. The probe could potentially tematically exclude groups The Belgian Data Protec-
worthiness. Regulators, mainly in Eu- cost Facebook more than such as non-Christians, im- tion Authority and Germa-
Beyond the regulatory in- rope but also in the U.S., $2.3 billion in fines based on migrants and minorities ny’s Federal Cartel office
vestigations, Cowen ana- perked up. And now Face- its 2018 revenue, or more from seeing ads for houses are also looking into Face-
lyst John Blackledge noted book faces the prospect if it makes more money and apartments. book’s data collection
that Facebook and other of not only billions more in this year, which is all but The civil charges filed by practices.
the Department of Hous- — Washington D.C., state
UK health service to use Amazon ing and Urban Develop- attorneys general
ment could cost the social If the federal investigations
Alexa to give medical advice network millions of dollars in weren’t enough, Face-
penalties. More important, book also faces local gov-
they’re already affecting ernment bodies. Attorneys
By KELVIN CHAN the company’s business general for Washington,
Associated Press model — its ability to target D.C. , and California are
LONDON (AP) — Alexa will ads with near-surgical pre- looking into Cambridge
see you now. cision. By its nature, this sort Analytica, while the New
Britain’s health care service of targeting excludes some York attorney general is in-
is teaming up with Ama- people and includes oth- vestigating the company’s
zon’s digital voice assistant ers. And that’s not always unauthorized collection of
to help answer medical legal. 1.5 million users’ contact
queries with advice from In this Monday, Aug. 7, 2017 file photo, an Amazon Alexa display The charges came de- lists.
the service’s official web- is seen at a store in Hialeah, Fla. spite changes Facebook Facebook said that it is
site. Critics, however, warn Associated Press announced just a week working with the New York
about risks to data privacy. cially useful for senior citi- Alexa can answer voice earlier to its ad targeting attorney general’s office
The British government said zens, blind people and oth- questions from users about system. The company had and that the collection was
Wednesday that the sys- ers who find it hard to ac- common maladies such as agreed to overhaul its tar- unintentional. It also says it
tem will help people get cess the internet while also the flu or chickenpox with geting system and aban- is cooperating with the oth-
quick and accurate health easing pressure on doctors. information verified by the don some of the practices er attorneys general in their
information. It will be espe- Using Amazon’s algorithms, National Health Service.q singled out by HUD to pre- probes. q