Facebook could face record fine from US regulators, report says

Facebook could be slapped with a record-setting fine for allegedly violating a legal agreement it had with the US government to keep its users' data private, according to a Friday report by The Washington Post.

Officials from the Federal Trade Commission, a privacy and security watchdog, have discussed imposing a record fine against Facebook, but the decision hasn't been finalized, according to the Post, which cited three people familiar with the matter.

The FTC started investigating Facebook last year after revelations surfaced that Cambridge Analytica, a UK political consultancy, accessed data from up to 87 million Facebook users without their permission.

The FTC's investigation is still ongoing, but the penalty against Facebook is expected to be larger than the record-setting $22.5 million the FTC imposed on Google in 2012, according to the Post.

Facebook has already faced hefty fines in other countries, including Italy, over allegations of data misuse. If the social media company gets fined by the FTC, it would be the first punishment against Facebook in the US.

:story: c|net