In Amicus Brief, EPIC Urges Court to Reject FTC-Facebook Settlement

Today EPIC filed an amicus brief in United States v. Facebook, a case concerning the proposed settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Facebook. EPIC argued, "This Court should not adopt the proposed Consent Decree because the parties have not established that it would be fair, adequate, reasonable, appropriate, or consistent with the public interest.” EPIC explained that the proposed settlement “largely mirrors the preexisting Consent Order from 2012. There are few new obligations on the company that would limit the collection and use of personal data, nor will there be any significant changes in business practices.” EPIC noted, the "Commission also seems entirely unconcerned by Facebook’s planned integration of the personal data of WhatsApp users even though this would violate representations both firms previously made to the Commission.” EPIC previously filed a motion to intervene in the case that has not yet been resolved by the court. Through a Freedom of Information Act Request, EPIC has uncovered more than 29,000 complaints against Facebook currently pending at the Commission.