- Title: British regulator to fine Facebook over data protection breaches
- Date: 11th July 2018
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) WOMAN USING FACEBOOK ON LAPTOP COMPUTER VARIOUS OF FACEBOOK WEBSITE SCROLLED ON LAPTOP INTERNET, UNITED STATES (MARCH 28, 2018) (REUTERS) FACEBOOK WEBSITE VARIOUS OF PRIVACY SETTINGS PAGE ON FACEBOOK WEBSITE AD PREFERENCES PAGE ON FACEBOOK WEBSITE TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION INFORMATION ON FACEBOOK WEBSITE
- Embargoed: 25th July 2018 09:14
- Keywords: Facebook Data Protection Cambridge Analytica Mark Zuckerberg Christopher Wylie Alexander Nix UK Information Commissioner’s Office
- Location: MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA / WASHINGTON, D.C. / NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET / LONDON, ENGLAND, UK / BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- City: MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA / WASHINGTON, D.C. / NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET / LONDON, ENGLAND, UK / BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / UNKNOWN LOCATION
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0028OB0K07
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Britain's information regulator said on Wednesday (July 11) she intends to fine Facebook for breaches of data protection law as her office investigates how millions of users' data was improperly accessed by consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has faced questioning by U.S. and EU lawmakers over how Cambridge Analytica improperly got hold of the personal data of 87 million Facebook users from a researcher.
Updating on her investigation into the use of data analytics by political campaigns, Britain's Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said she intended to fine Facebook 500,000 pounds ($663,850), a small figure for a company with a market value of $590 billion, but the maximum amount allowed.
Denham said that Facebook had broken the law by failing to safeguard people's information and had not been transparent about how data was harvested by others on its platform.
"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," she said in a statement.
Facebook can respond to the commissioner before a final decision is made, and said it was reviewing the report and would respond soon.
British lawmakers have launched an inquiry into "fake news" and its effect on election campaigns, and have increasingly focused on Cambridge Analytica.
Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by Donald Trump in 2016, has denied its work on the U.S. president's successful election campaign made use of data.
It has also said that, while it pitched for work with campaign group Leave.EU ahead of the Brexit referendum in Britain in 2016, it did not end up doing any work on the campaign.
However, the Information Commissioner's report said other regulatory action would include a criminal prosecution against Cambridge Analytica's parent firm, SCL Elections, for failing to deal with the regulator's enforcement notice.
It also said it would send warning letters to 11 political parties to compel them to audit their data protection practices. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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