The Federal Trade Commission confirmed on Monday that it has officially opened an investigation into Facebook following the company’s recent Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.
The FTC is officially investigating Facebook following the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal
Facebook stock was down 6 percent early on Monday.
It was known last week that the FTC had reached out to Facebook and was planning to send the company a list of questions about the Cambridge Analytica situation, but the agency never confirmed that Facebook was under official investigation until now.
Facebook has had issues with the FTC in the past. The current investigation will certainly aim to determine whether or not Facebook violated a 2011 consent decree that it signed promising stronger privacy practices.
“Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements,” the agency wrote in a press release. “Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices.”
A Facebook spokesperson pointed Recode to a statement the company issued last week from Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman: “We remain strongly committed to protecting people’s information. We appreciate the opportunity to answer questions the FTC may have.”
The spokesperson did not answer a question about whether or not the FTC had already sent Facebook questions on the matter.
Even though it was basically known that the FTC was looking into Facebook last week, investors still found the agency’s confirmation troubling. Facebook stock was down as much as 6 percent in early morning trading.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
