Former FTC official says Facebook violated 2011 legal agreement, setting up for tough choices on consumer data security and privacy

A former Federal Trade Commission official told senators that recent revelations about Facebook user data being accessed by device manufacturers and other third parties likely indicate a violation of a 2011 legal agreement with the FTC, an assertion that could have implications for the government's review of securing consumer data to ensure privacy.

“The facts around the Cambridge Analytica sharing were quite similar to the facts in 2011 that were in hand,” said Ashkan Soltani, the FTC's former chief technologist,...