美國監管機構對Facebook展開調查
The regulatory pressure on Facebook rose another notch yesterday as the US Federal Trade Commission confirmed it had opened an investigation into the company’s privacy practices after the scandal in which the data of 50m users was misused.
監管部門昨日對Facebook加大壓力。美國聯邦貿易委員會(Federal Trade Commission，簡稱FTC)證實，其已對該公司的隱私保護實踐展開調查，此前爆發的醜聞顯示5000萬用戶的數據遭到不當利用。Tom Pahl, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said it took “very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook” and warned the agency would take action against companies “that fail to honour their privacy promises”. The investigation could result in fines for Facebook, which signed a consent order in 2011 with the FTC that required it to be clear with users about how their data were being shared with third parties.
聯邦貿易委員會消費者保護局(Bureau of Consumer Protection)代理局長湯姆.帕爾(Tom Pahl)表示，該局“嚴肅對待近期相關新聞報道，這些報道引發了對Facebook隱私保護實踐的嚴重關切”，並警告稱，該局將對“那些未能履行其隱私保護承諾的公司”採取行動。這項調查可能導致Facebook面臨罰款。該公司曾於2011年與聯邦貿易委員會簽署同意令，該同意令要求Facebook明確告知用戶：他們的數據正如何被與第三方分享。If the company is found to have broken the order, it could face fines of up to $40,000 per violation per day. David Vladeck, a former FTC director who oversaw the agreement in 2011, has said each affected user could be counted as an individual violation.
如果被發現違反這一同意令，該公司的每項違規操作可能面臨每天高達4萬美元的罰款。曾在2011年負責與Facebook達成協議的聯邦貿易委員會前主任戴維.弗拉德克(David Vladeck)表示，每位受影響的用戶可以被算作一項單獨的違規行爲。
Facebook shares dropped as much as 6.1 per cent yesterday, leaving the company 22 per cent below its record high of $193.09 on February 1. Facebook has re-issued a statement made last week by Rob Sherman, its deputy privacy officer, which said: “We remain strongly committed to protecting people’s information. We appreciate the opportunity to answer questions the FTC may have.”
Facebook股價昨日盤中曾下跌6.1%，已從2月1日創出的193.09美元的歷史高點累計下跌22%。Facebook重新發布了其副首席隱私官羅布.謝爾曼(Rob Sherman)上週所作的聲明： “我們仍然堅定致力於保護人們的信息。我們感激有機會回答聯邦貿易委員會可能提出的問題”。The FTC’s investigation is just one of several probes into Facebook following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a marketing firm used by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, improperly harvested data on 50m Facebook users.
聯邦貿易委員會的調查只是針對Facebook展開的幾項調查之一，之前媒體爆料稱，唐納德.特朗普(Donald Trump)總統競選團隊聘用的營銷公司劍橋分析(Cambridge Analytica)以不當方式採集5000萬Facebook用戶數據。
Politicians in the US and Europe have called on Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, to testify about the scandal, while 37 US attorneys-general have demanded answers from Facebook.
美國和歐洲的政界人士已經要求Facebook創始人馬克.扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)就這起醜聞作證，與此同時美國37名總檢察長要求Facebook提供答案。Katarina Barley, the German justice minister, warned yesterday that Facebook and other internet companies needed closer supervision. Speaking after a meeting with senior European Facebook managers, Ms Barley said the events surrounding Cambridge Analytica were “intolerable”.
德國司法部長卡塔琳娜.巴利(Katarina Barley)昨日警告，需要對Facebook和其他互聯網公司進行更加嚴密的監督。巴利在與Facebook的歐洲高管們開會後表示，圍繞劍橋分析的相關事件“令人無法容忍”。
