It led to Facebook getting hit with a $5 billion fine from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one of the largest privacy settlements in U.S. history. The Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed broader issues with Facebook's developer platform, which had allowed for vast data access, but had limited oversight. According to internal documents released by Frances Haugen, a whistleblower, in 2021, revealed Meta's leadership often prioritized growth and engagement over privacy or safety concerns. Meta has also faced scrutiny over its use of contractors: In 2019, Bloomberg reported how Facebook paid contractors to transcribe users' audio chats without knowing how it was obtained in the first place. (Facebook, at the time, said the recordings only came from users who had opted into the transcription services, adding they had also "paused" that practice.)