Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reach a settlement

MarketWatch columnist Pleti (Therese Poletti) wrote that Facebook and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement to defuse the privacy crisis. While Facebook has not been fined, the constraints have made it difficult for them to use customer information for targeted advertising in the future, which would shake their financial footing.

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Facebook, a social-networking site, has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which could also pave the block for its expected next year's IPO.

The Federal Trade Commission, however, has at least pointed out 7 of its unfulfilled commitments to user privacy, including a promise not to share user personal information with advertisers. The Federal Trade Commission did not give Facebook a ticket, only to warn Facebook that it would be fined $16,000 a day if it later found that Facebook violated the user's privacy promise. The Federal Trade Commission said it would not start by imposing fines on companies in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission Act.

The problem for Facebook is that if more and more users really know and choose not to share personal information, then how will Facebook get advertisers to get personal information about them in the future? In fact, as part of the reconciliation, the Federal Trade Commission has asked Facebook to change its privacy policy after obtaining the consent of the user.

Facebook's real revenue comes from targeted ads, so Facebook will consider how to balance its business activities. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, has said it is committed to making Facebook a leader in business transparency and privacy protection. However, as the head of a listed company, Zuckerberg also has an obligation to increase the company's revenue, and most of Facebook's valuable resources to advertisers happens to be the user is very worried about shared personal data.

Facebook may now only hope for the impatience of its users, who are unwilling to read the long, convoluted statement of privacy.