[JumpCrisscross]

> The data breached in the Equifax case seems to cause far more direct harm

Facebook breached a consent decree with the FTC [1]. Demonstrating harm was simple—they breached a settlement.

Equifax’s harm is potentially great. But demonstrating damages is difficult.

TL; DR Facebook is a repeat offender.

[1] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2011/11/faceb...

[pmiller2]

> ...demonstrating damages is difficult.

I still don't see how less than $5 per person who's data was compromised constitutes a reasonable settlement.

[gtirloni]

Have you got better numbers?

[pmiller2]

Right here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20484328

[tyre]

in addition to demonstrating harm, regulators really hate it if you defy them. Repeat offenses carry a significant penalty as you're seen to be thumbing your nose at them.

That's what's frustrating about most of Elon's crap. Don't test the patience of the SEC with _tweeting_. Put your phone away and save that social capital for when you actually need it.

FB is more strategic but still repeatedly misleads congress, the FCC, etc. After a while, they're sick of being made to look a fool. Notice that FB isn't getting the "trust us" benefit of the doubt with Libra (nor should they.)

[ineedasername]

Yes. The other most significant aggregator of data, Google, is by no means a saint in this space, but I think they would get a bit more "trust us" points than Facebook. Their settlement over childrens' privacy on the youtube platform is a salient example here. To my view, the rapid emergence of children vloggers turning it into a career and causing COPPA issues is probably something they should have twigged to earlier, but it doesn't smack of the blatant & extreme exploitation & carelessness of user data seen by Facebook. That said, Google is probably only one decent sized data scandal away from that territory, and hopefully takes FB's fine and increased scrutiny as instructive in being more careful themselves.