EPIC - EPIC Urges Senate To Examine FTC's Failure to Enforce Facebook Consent Order, Unwind WhatsApp Deal

Cambridge Analytica consent orders Facebook FTC

EPIC Urges Senate To Examine FTC's Failure to Enforce Facebook Consent Order, Unwind WhatsApp Deal

EPIC has sent a statement to the Senate Commerce Committee in advance of a hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Trade Commission." EPIC told the Committee that the FTC should enforce the Facebook Consent Order and unwind the Facebook-WhatsApp deal. As EPIC previously told Congress, the Cambridge Analytica scandal could have been avoided if the FTC had enforced the Consent Order. That Order followed complaints by EPIC and consumer privacy organizations in 2009 and 2010. In 2014, EPIC urged the FTC to block Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp. In 2016, EPIC filed a second complaint after Facebook broke commitments to the FTC and began collecting WhatsApp users' data. EPIC also highlighted the FTC's inaction in major privacy cases such as those against Uber, Facebook, and Google.