Under a 2011 consent decree, the FTC prohibited Facebook from allowing third-party apps to scrape personal user data.

The Facebook situation is particularly perilous. Under a 2011 consent decree, the FTC prohibited the social media site from allowing third-party apps to scrape personal user data. Cambridge Analytica paid people to use a personality test app, acquiring the data of the friends of those who downloaded it. Though an obscure, unadvertised setting allowed Facebook users to opt out of such data sharing, 50 million people likely had no idea Cambridge Analytica obtained their information. The consent decree authorizes the FTC to fine Facebook $40,000 per violation per day; if applied to 50 million users, the potential exposure equals at least $2 trillion. This is likely not limited to Cambridge Analytica, as Facebook’s policies on third-party developers acquiring user data are famously weak. “We had no idea what developers were doing with the data,” said former Facebook operations manager Sandy Parakilas to The Guardian. Plus, Facebook routinely provides this kind of “social graph” information — likes, friend connections, and other data — to advertisers. Surveillance is effectively Facebook’s business model. McSweeny, the Democrat on the FTC, said in a statement that the Facebook issue highlighted how consumers need stronger protections over and control of their data. But as a lame-duck commissioner, she won’t be involved in adjudicating the matter. And it’s unclear whether the FTC did anything to monitor Facebook’s adherence to the consent decree since 2011. The most important federal agency in the tech space is flying blind. “Facebook and the other platforms are a threat to American democracy,” said Matt Stoller of the Open Markets Institute, an anti-monopoly group. “It is vital that all senators recognize that and take steps to address the crisis.” The process of restocking the FTC has been repeatedly delayed, making it the only major federal agency without new leadership 14 months into Donald Trump’s tenure. Trump dragged his feet in nominating replacements, and then the nominations were caught up in a spat between the White House and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, over funding for Hurricane Harvey victims in his home state. Cornyn’s former staffer Noah Phillips is one of the four FTC nominees.

“He’s holding up the confirmation process for one person when we need a commission more than ever.”