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Britain to fine Facebook over data breach
LONDON, July 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Britain’s data regulator has said it
will fine Facebook half a million pounds ($660,000) for failing to protect
users’ data, in an inquiry into whether personal information had been misused
by campaigns on both sides of Britain’s 2016 EU referendum.
An investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has focused
on the social media giant since earlier this year, when evidence emerged that
an app had been used to harvest the data of tens of millions of Facebook
users worldwide.
In a progress report early Wednesday the watchdog said it plans to issue
Facebook with the maximum fine available to it for breaches of the Data
Protection Act.
“The ICO’s investigation concluded that Facebook contravened the law by
failing to safeguard people’s information,” it said, adding that the company
had “failed to be transparent about how people’s data was harvested by
others”.
Facebook has admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data
hijacked by British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, which was working
for US President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Cambridge Analytica, which denies the accusations, has since filed for
voluntary bankruptcy in the United States and Britain.
“We are at a crossroads. Trust and confidence in the integrity of our
democratic processes risk being disrupted because the average voter has
little idea of what is going on behind the scenes,” Information Commissioner
Elizabeth Denham said in the statement.
“New technologies that use data analytics to micro-target people give
campaign groups the ability to connect with individual voters. But this
cannot be at the expense of transparency, fairness and compliance with the
law.”
In May, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg apologised to the European
Parliament for the “harm” caused by a huge breach of users’ data and by a
failure to crack down on fake news.
– Hefty compensation bill –
MORE/MR/ 1058 hrs
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The EU in May launched strict new data-protection laws allowing regulators
to fine companies up to 20 million euros ($24 million) or four percent of
annual global turnover.
But the IOC said because of the timing of the incidents involved in its
inquiry, the penalties were limited to those available under previous
legislation.
The next phase of the ICO’s work is expected to be concluded by the end of
October.
“As we have said before, we should have done more to investigate claims
about Cambridge Analytica and take action in 2015,” Erin Egan, chief privacy
officer at Facebook, said.
“We have been working closely with the ICO in their investigation of
Cambridge Analytica, just as we have with authorities in the US and other
countries. We’re reviewing the report and will respond to the ICO soon.”
The British fine comes as Facebook faces a potential hefty compensation
bill in Australia, where litigation funder IMF Bentham said it had lodged a
complaint with regulators over the Cambridge Analytica breech — thought to
affect some 300,000 users in Australia.
IMF investment manager Nathan Landis told The Australian newspaper most
awards for privacy breaches ranged between Aus$1,000 and Aus$10,000 (US$750-
$7,500).
This implies a potential compensation bill of between Aus$300 million and
Aus$3 billion.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1058 hrs