Meta Platforms has appealed to a federal court to deprive the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the opportunity to move forward as part of the agency’s procedure to review its confidentiality agreement reached in 2020.
In 2020, the FTC’s agreement with Meta, that time Facebook, was approved by Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington.
The tech giant’s court documents indicate that only the court has the authority to impose a ban on the practice of facial recognition.
The Meta statement also emphasizes that exclusive jurisdiction is the right of the court, not the FTC. The tech giant is demanding an injunction against the commission’s proceedings. The company claims that the FTC is trying to unlawfully exercise the powers of the court by resorting to the practice of coercion and seeking to make adjustments to the provisions of the settlement agreement.
As part of the 2020 settlement, the tech giant agreed to pay a $5 billion fine. At that time, the company also made changes to the algorithms of internal privacy checks, which provided for strengthening the responsibility of the board and CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg for ensuring the protection of users’ data.
At the beginning of May this year, the FTC said that the technology giant had committed repeated violations of confidentiality obligations, and announced the beginning of internal proceedings with a view to a subsequent revision of the 2020 agreement. At the same time, the regulator announced its intention to prohibit the company from using facial recognition tools and deprive Meta of the opportunity to monetize data on minors.
The tech giant claims that the FTC’s plans go beyond its authority. Meta spokeswoman Dina El-Kassabi Luce said that the agreement clearly defines the boundaries of the powers of the two parties and noted that only the court has the right to make changes to the current structure of the relationship between the company and the regulator.
Timothy Kelly approved the agreement between the FTC and Meta in April 2020, but at the same time reproached the tech giant for systemic failures in oversight and lack of transparency and accountability. The judge also stated that the agreement proposed by the regulator is a reasonable solution.
As we have reported earlier, Meta Hit With Landmark $1.3 Billion EU Privacy Fine.
