Meta’s Privacy Review Process and Legal Battle with the FTC: What’s at Stake?

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is now required to conduct a privacy review of every launch that affects user data, conducting more than 1,200 each month. This new requirement comes after the company faced a $5 billion fine for privacy violations.

According to former employees, each unit of the company has to certify internally on a quarterly basis how it’s protecting users’ data. New hires must review and agree to the consent decree before they can start working, and failing to complete regular privacy training can lock employees out of corporate systems indefinitely.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has alleged that Meta misled its users about privacy settings on the Messenger Kids chat app and failed to block its business partners’ access to Facebook data as promised. The FTC wants to ban Meta from profiting off the data of people under 18 and require it to apply privacy commitments to companies it acquires.

The legal battle between Meta and the FTC could be a turning point for consent decrees. FTC chair Lina Khan has made taking on big tech a priority, and if the agency wins the case, it may pursue more consent decrees and tighten them to keep companies in line.

If Meta stops the FTC’s updates to the consent decree, it might encourage other companies to fight the agency instead of settling. This could increase pressure on US lawmakers to establish universal restrictions and define the agency’s power more precisely.

Despite vocal support from companies like Meta and Google for a comprehensive privacy law, there are no clear signs that Congress will act on privacy legislation anytime soon. The FTC agrees that a federal privacy law is long overdue, but it emphasizes that consent decrees are not a substitute for legislation.

In the midst of this legal battle, the outcome could have far-reaching implications for the future of privacy regulations and the power of the FTC to hold tech companies accountable for protecting user data.