The FTC announced on Tuesday that it has approved a proposed settlement with Facebook over charges that the company did not keep its promises to protect the privacy of its users. The settlement requires that all future changes to Facebook privacy settings and information sharing to be “opt-in” and requires Facebook to undergo privacy audits for the next 20 years. Facebook made sweeping changes to its privacy settings in December of 2009, and attempted to make the settings more apparent to users. However, those changes actually confused many users, who shared more than they intended, leading to an avalanche of FTC complaints from privacy advocacy groups .

Excerpt from: 
Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years