US Government Considers Legal Action Over Meta's Use of Financial Data for Ads

The Washington Post reports that America's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (or CFPB) 'is considering legal action against Meta over allegations that it improperly used financial data obtained from third parties in its highly-lucrative advertising business...'

The article says a Meta securities filing Thursday revealed it had received a formal notification about the federal investigation last month.

The filing said only that the inquiry relates to 'advertising for financial products and services on our platform.' A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment on the investigation. 'We disagree with the claims,' the company's filing said, 'and believe an enforcement action is unwarranted....'

The CFPB's probe underscores its aggressive recent focus on Big Tech. In recent years, major companies including Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google have launched a wave of new financial services, including credit cards and apps that help users send money to friends... Under its current director, Rohit Chopra, the CFPB has also sought to ensure that tech giants adhere to the same safeguards that have long applied to their brick-and-mortar banking predecessors. The bureau formalized its tech crackdown in 2021, when Chopra ordered companies including Facebook to turn over records related to their payment apps and other financial service offerings.

At the time, he expressed fear that these giants already possessed troves of customer data and could solidify their dominance if they gained greater insight into users' purchasing and spending habits. 'This data can be monetized by companies that seek to profit from behavioral targeting, particularly around advertising and e-commerce,' Chopra said in a statement announcing the review. 'That many Big Tech companies aspire to grow in this space only heightens these concerns.' Since then, the watchdog agency has proposed new rules that could treat Apple, Google and PayPal-owned Venmo more like banks, opening the door for federal regulators to inspect some of their operations in a bid to protect users' deposits.

The rules, which have not been finalized, have sparked fierce lobbying opposition from major tech companies.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.