US FTC to investigate Facebook over Cambridge scandal

The US Federal Trade Commission is investigating Facebook’s privacy practices. This has been confirmed by the government agency. The European Commission already announced an investigation last week.

The FTC confirms on its site that the investigation is underway. The committee, which also aims to protect consumers, wants to know whether the social network has kept promises and legislation regarding privacy.

The confirmation comes after a rumor came out about the investigation last week. It is unknown how long the FTC will allow for the investigation and when results will be forthcoming. Last week, the European Parliament announced that it would investigate privacy at Facebook.

The investigations follow revelations about possible misuse of data by Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge used a dataset from the thisisyourdigitallife application. Several hundred thousand people used the app, with information from their Facebook contacts immediately transferred to the servers, so that Cambridge Analytica said it had fifty million profiles.

Facebook closed Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook account, cut how much data apps and games get, and foreman Mark Zuckerberg apologized with a post on Facebook, in interviews and this weekend with full-page ads in British newspapers.