Australia sues Facebook over Cambridge Analytica case

Australia's privacy regulator has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, accusing the social network of sharing the personal data of more than 300 people without their consent with political consultant Cambridge Analytica.

In a Federal Court case, the Australian Information Commissioner accused Facebook of breaching privacy laws by disclosing information about 311 users for political profiling through the social network's This Is Your Digital Life survey.

"Facebook's platform is designed to prevent users from making meaningful choices and having control over how their personal information is shared," said Information Commissioner Angelene Falk.

The claim requires payment of compensation (the amount is not specified). Moreover, the regulator notes that for each violation of the privacy law, a maximum penalty of 1,7 million Australian dollars ($1,1 million) can be imposed. So the maximum fine for 311 violations could stretch to an absurd $362 billion.

Last July, the US Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5 billion after examining the same survey that collected users' personal data from 2014 to 2015. Overall, Facebook is accused of improperly sharing information belonging to 87 million users worldwide using a survey tool from the now-defunct British firm Cambridge Analytica. The consultant's clients included the team that worked on US President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.

A few months after Trump's election, Cambridge Analytica registered a business in Australia, but none of the political parties used its services. During the trial in Australia, the Information Commissioner said Facebook did not know the exact nature of the data the social network shared with Cambridge Analytica, but did not take reasonable steps to protect user privacy. “As a result, the personal information of affected Australian citizens was at risk of disclosure, monetization and use for political profiling,” the court said. “These violations represent serious and/or repeated interference with the privacy of affected individuals in Australia.”

Source: 3dnews.ru