In
another major setback to the social marketing giant, Facebook faces a defamation
suit worth £500,000 by UK privacy watchdog in reference to breach of data laws.
Facebook broke the country’s Data protection Act by making users’ information
available to a third-party app linked to Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics
firm. The California based company and Cambrigde Analytica are believed to have
indulged in negotiations to share user data thus compromising the privacy of
over 87 million users.
The £500,000 fine, which forms part of a notice of
intent sent to Facebook by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), is the
biggest the regulator can issue in its investigation. The investigation, led by
Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham, found that the social marketing
giant had infringed the law by failing to fortify user’s data and that the
company had also failed to be lucid about how personal data was being used by
others. "Fines and prosecutions punish the bad actors, but my real goal is
to effect change and restore trust and confidence in our democratic
system," said Denham.
The digital
information sharing by Facebook is also linked to various breach of conduct of
information for political gains during election campaign.
The ICO discovered that Facebook had breached its
own rules and failed to make sure Cambridge Analytica had deleted personal data
of millions of users.
While Cambridge Analytica insisted it had indeed
wiped the data after Facebook's erasure request in December 2015, the ICO said
it had corroboration that copies of the data had been shared with others.
“We’re reviewing the report and will respond to the
ICO soon,” said Erin Egan, the company’s chief privacy officer. Meanwhile, Facebook
has the right to respond to the regulator’s fine before a final conclusion is
made in the case.
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