A report by The Washington Post has indicated that the Federal Trade Commission is planning on punishing Facebook with a “record-setting” fine for failing to protect users’ data.

The information to the post came from three anonymous people who are familiar with the proceedings of FTC. Soon after the report was published, Facebook’s shares witnessed a decline.

Facebook has been accused of giving away access to users’ data without their consent to Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm. FTC launched an investigation against Facebook in March, and the company is yet to face the consequences for it.

If the report from The Washington Post is to be believed, Facebook could be fined for more than $22.5 million which is the amount Google paid in 2012 after FTC caught the search giant violating privacy policies. It was a record fine ever imposed by the Federal Trade Commission.

FTC’s fine on Facebook would be based on findings whether the social media company has violated the terms of the consent decree signed between the two parties in 2011 — when the consumer protection watchdog accused Facebook of data misuse.

2018 has been a rough year for Facebook with incessant data leak reports and internal turmoil between CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook employees.

What do you think Facebook should do for protecting the data of users? Tell us in the comments and keep visiting Fossbytes.com