Facebook Is Being Investigated Over Its Data Practices in Seven States

• Seven states in the United States are currently investigating Facebook in two groups.
• The social media company’s data practices and potentially undiscovered violations are being investigated.
• The investigations are exclusive of the federal investigations that have been launched against Facebook.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Facebook is currently being investigated by the states of Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina in the US. The social media company already has its hands full with a number of federal probes being conducted against the social media company. All of the investigations were initiated due to the Cambridge Analytica scandal that made data security the talking point of 2018.

The seven state-level investigations being conducted to look into Facebook’s data handling practices have been split into two groups. Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Connecticut are working together to focus on user privacy practices in general while the other states except North Carolina are focused on unearthing potential violations that may not have been revealed. North Carolina is working on a multi-state investigation, but the attorney general did not provide any details.

Facebook has been investigated in and out of the United States since the Cambridge Analytica scandal made the news. The social networking company has been scanned by the FTC, DOJ, FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US as well as authorities abroad. The company is also under investigation for its data protection practices not being up to the mark.

It is not just data handling and security practices that have brought discredit to Facebook as a platform. The company was also recently criticized for turning a blind eye to microtransactions being made by children without their parents’ consent, and no refunds were provided. Internal documents revealed that the social media company was aware of the situation, but they chose not to add authentication methods to avoid in-game purchases being made by children or offer refunds to those affected. The company was eventually forced to retract its decision, paving the way for a proper authentication method as well as a refund policy.

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