One of the biggest pieces of news in the world of tech these days has to do with Facebook getting fined a massive five billion dollars by the Federal Trade Commission, and while many would say that this is a step in the right direction considering how blatantly Facebook has been violating the privacy rights of its users, there are those that are criticizing this settlement, and one of the people that are involved in this criticism is the former chief of security at Facebook, Alex Stamos.
According to Stamos, people are indeed worried about the kind of information that tech companies have regarding user data and the like, but he also feels that the fine doesn’t address the issue head on. Stamos believes that Facebook has a monopoly over user data due to its massive popularity, and he feels like this monopoly is anti-competitive which is something that the FTC fine as well as the establishment of a regulatory committee for user privacy at Facebook is failing to address.
Stamos also believes that the FTC does not have a clear enough goal for what it wants Facebook to do following the fine. According to statements made by Stamos, Facebook as well as other tech companies need to be regulated through actual legislation that needs to be passed. Essentially, laws need to be developed that would regulate how tech companies operate, but if the current state of affairs are anything to go by it’s pretty clear that we’re pretty far away from something like this happening.
Photo: Web Summit / Flickr
Read next: Why did the Former Facebook Insiders turn Against the Social Media Giant?
According to Stamos, people are indeed worried about the kind of information that tech companies have regarding user data and the like, but he also feels that the fine doesn’t address the issue head on. Stamos believes that Facebook has a monopoly over user data due to its massive popularity, and he feels like this monopoly is anti-competitive which is something that the FTC fine as well as the establishment of a regulatory committee for user privacy at Facebook is failing to address.
- Related: Facebook strikes again with a new project to help people find their destinations accurately
Stamos also believes that the FTC does not have a clear enough goal for what it wants Facebook to do following the fine. According to statements made by Stamos, Facebook as well as other tech companies need to be regulated through actual legislation that needs to be passed. Essentially, laws need to be developed that would regulate how tech companies operate, but if the current state of affairs are anything to go by it’s pretty clear that we’re pretty far away from something like this happening.
- Also read: Facebook to Pay $100 Million in Fines to SEC
Photo: Web Summit / Flickr
Read next: Why did the Former Facebook Insiders turn Against the Social Media Giant?
