Axios

A data-privacy agency for France said Google was in violation of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and will be fined nearly $57 million, the Washington Post reports.

Details: The agency said Google failed to fully disclose to users how their data is collected and what happens to it. In addition, the agency said Google made it too difficult for users to understand and manage preferences on how their personal information is used, especially in regards to personalized ads. Both are in violation of GDPR.

Analysts were convinced that the last quarter of 2018 was going to be great for earnings — until, suddenly, at the end of the year, they weren't.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg acknowledged at a conference in Germany on Sunday that the social network had a rough 2018 and that "we need to do better to protect people's data," CNBC reports.

Why it matters: 2019 will be the year Facebook continues to apologize. As Axios' Scott Rosenberg previously reported, 2018 was going to be the year CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally fixed Facebook, but it became Zuckerberg's apology tour.