Facebook’s back is against the wall yet again
On Tuesday, UK authorities announced that Facebook will be charged £500,000 for the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
In March, Facebook’s involvement with political data company Cambridge Analytica surfaced. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office began an investigation into Facebook’s relationship with Cambridge Analytica. The office found that Facebook shared millions of its users’ data with Cambridge Analytica for political purposes.
According to the authorities, Facebook failed to keep the data of its users safe, and simultaneously, the company did not inform users that Cambridge Analytica had used their data for political gain.
Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer had this to say about the investigation on Tuesday:
As we have said before, we should have done more to investigate claims about Cambridge Analytica and take action in 2015. 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.
However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg still has a chance to rebut the allegations by explaining how Cambridge Analytica acquired the data. It does not seem that he will be able to slide out of this one, though, as investigators have acquired many servers that contain terabytes of data.
Although most people thought that the case was put to bed when Zuckerberg agreed to testify in court, the ICO believes that this data breach could have affected more people than was originally thought.
Look out for a response from Facebook in the coming days; it will be interesting to see how they will defend themselves against these strong allegations.
Featured Image via Public Domain Pictures