It appears that the Commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) will be voting sometime within the next couple of weeks to approve a settlement between Facebook and the U.S. government over charges that the social media giant was unfair and deceptive in how it used customer personal information. The Wall Street Journal reported that the terms of the settlement would require Facebook to obtain the users’ consent before making a “material retroactive change” to its privacy policy. Thus, it comes down to simple contract law – the customer originally agreed to terms and conditions that cannot be unilaterally changed without “express” consent. Or, put another way, different terms and conditions means different contract.
From an industry perspective, this settlement will have repercussions across many businesses who engage in online behavioral advertising. The WSJ goes on to report that the Facebook settlement is “part of a broader government push to hold companies more accountable for the personal data they collect, store, and trade.” The FTC and its Commissioners have made enforcement of privacy policies a top priority in its agenda, and that it would be wise for businesses to start implementing a comprehensive data governance policy within its organization.