What's going on?

Facebook posted better-than-expected second-quarter results on its wall late on Wednesday, and investors liked it: the social media company�s stock rose 2%.

What does this mean?

Facebook�s monthly active users were up 8% on last year. That�s the same rate as in the company�s first quarter � which, given investors had been expecting growth to slow, likely helped it exceed quarterly revenue forecasts. And despite Facebook�s costs continuing to rise � 66% higher than a year ago last quarter � the company�s profit beat expectations too, excluding one-off charges and, er, fines. Then again, Facebook almost never misses profit estimates: perhaps because it consistently spends less than it says it will.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Fine by Facebook.

On Wednesday, Facebook agreed to cough up a record $5 billion fine for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal � and CEO Mark Zuckerberg agreed to give up sole control of privacy decision-making. The advertising giant should take this in its stride, having already put $3 billion aside. But Facebook might still lose its footing: the US government this week announced an investigation into big tech�s dominance in several areas, including social media � set to be followed up by another one from the very regulators that just gave the company its fine (tweet this). And US lawmakers don�t appear to be huge fans of its proposed digital currency either.

For you personally: Regulators are coming out to bat for privacy.

Between Instagram, WhatsApp, and the old blue wasteland, Facebook already knows a lot about who and what you like � and with Libra, it could soon know what you do with your money too. This could line Facebook�s pockets with higher revenues from advertisers, but on the other side of the digital coin are the potential limits authorities might place on the company. Regulations introduced last year now allow Europeans to take more control of their data and how it�s used � and US regulators may be about to follow suit.