Zuckerberg could be held personally accountable for Facebook data breaches

The federal government wants to hold Mark Zuckerberg personally accountable for Facebook’s privacy woes.

According to a report in the Washington Post, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently investigating Facebook and looking into whether the Facebook’s founder and CEO should be held liable for the company’s data mishandling and privacy issues.

Facebook and the FTC have been in discussions for more than a year over the agency’s probe into the company. Sources familiar with these discussions say that the FTC is mulling over an unusual decision to hold Zuckerberg himself accountable for the company’s data leaks and breaches.

The FTC does not regularly go after executives when levying fines or other penalties for a company’s wrongdoings. However, critics say that the federal government may be out to make an example out of Zuckerberg and send a message to others in Silicon Valley.

Top lawmakers who spoke to the Post seem to back holding Zuckerberg accountable.

"Zuckerberg wasn’t just aware of Facebook’s invasion of consumer privacy, he signed off on it and publicly downplayed legitimate concerns," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. "Holding Mark Zuckerberg and other top Facebook executives personally at fault and liable for further wrongdoing would send a powerful message to business leaders across the country: You will pay a hefty price for skirting the law and deceiving consumers."

The FTC confirmed in March 2018 that it had opened an investigation into the social network following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Cambridge Analytica revelations showed that data belonging to 87 million Facebook users was "improperly shared" to a political firm.

Facebook's data and privacy issues did not get any better following the reveal of the Cambrige Analytica breach. Earlier this year, the world's largest social networking platform has been found breaking Apple's policies in order to collect data from teens. A new report from earlier this month found that Facebook exposed millions of its Instagram users' passwords by storing them in plain text.

The Post reports that documents obtained from the FTC show that the agency previously considered hitting Zuckerberg with fines for future Facebook privacy violations as part of a 2011 settlement with the company. However, the FTC did not go through with it then.

Last month, the New York Times reported that Facebook is facing a criminal investigation from federal authorities over its data-sharing practices.

"It was my mistake and I’m sorry," said Zuckerberg when speaking before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce at a hearing following the Cambridge Analytica data breach in 2018. "I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here."

Whether the Facebook founder and CEO realized exactly what being personally responsible for his company’s misdeeds could eventually entail is another story. Perhaps, Zuckerberg may end up regretting those words.