Facebook agrees to pay a fine of $643,000 in Cambridge Analytica scandal

Facebook has agreed to pay a fine of $643,000 (500,000 pounds) in the privacy case stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

In July 2018, Facebook has been fined £500,000 ($664,000) in the U.K. for its conduct in the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.

Facebook has been fined £500,000 in the U.K., the maximum fine allowed by the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998, for failing to protect users’ personal information.

In April 2018, Facebook revealed that 87 million users have been affected by the Cambridge Analytica case, much more than 50 million users initially thought.

“Today’s progress report gives details of some of the organisations and individuals under investigation, as well as enforcement actions so far.

This includes the ICO’s intention to fine Facebook a maximum £500,000 for two breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998.” reads the announcement published in July by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

“Facebook, with Cambridge Analytica, has been the focus of the investigation since February when evidence emerged that an app had been used to harvest the data of 50 million Facebook users across the world. This is now estimated at 87 million.

The ICO’s investigation concluded that Facebook contravened the law by failing to safeguard people’s information. It also found that the company failed to be transparent about how people’s data was harvested by others.”

Even if the company has agreed to pay a fine, the company pointed out that the UK ICO was not able to demonstrate that the data had actually been transferred to Cambridge Analytica.

After the disclosure of the privacy scandal, the social network implemented several major changes to protect the privacy of its users and prevent abuse.

“Facebook associate general counsel Harry Kinmonth says the company has “made major changes” to the platform since that time and that it is “significantly restricting the information which app developers could access.”” reported the Associated Press.

In June 2019, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a record $5 billion settlement with Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – social network, Cambridge Analytica)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.