(ShareCast News) - The United States Federal Trade Commission announced on Monday that it was investigating social media giant Facebook's privacy practices after the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal where the data analytics firm has been accused of using personal information harvested from more than 50m Facebook profiles without permission, in order to better target US voters with personalised political advertisements based on a like-based psychological profile.
"The FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers," said Tom Pahl, acting director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection said on Monday.

Of the tools available to the FTC, the most powerful of which may well be its ability to commence enforcement action against companies that fail to honour their privacy promises, including living up to the expectations set out within Privacy Shield, a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act.

"The FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices."

As of 1700 GMT, Facebook shares had lost 2.81% to $154.91 per share.

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