FTC’s $5 Billion Penalty for Facebook Security Lapses Includes New Health Privacy Restrictions

Facebook will pay a record $5 billion penalty, and submit to new restrictions and a modified corporate structure that will hold the company accountable for the decisions it makes about its users’ privacy, according to a notice posted last week by the Federal Trade Commission.

Facebook was accused back in February of misleading users in its Group platform about who can see their private information. A report, written by CareSet Systems CTO and hacktivist Fred Trotter and healthcare attorney David Harlow, contends Facebook did not disclose how much information could be visible to outsiders — including health information.