Facebook could face Australian class action, and astrophysicist leads charge – RN



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Updated

July 23, 2018 07:05:34

The man leading a lawsuit against Facebook in Australia says he hopes the case will encourage people to be more careful with what they share on social networks.

Astrophysicist Edward Poljak was recently informed that his data may have been violated in his Cambridge Analytica data scandal

The former soldier told The Law Report that he had put strict privacy settings on his profile out of respect for the privacy of his friends, some of whom were working in law enforcement and were former military.

He feared that the data breach would jeopardize their use or safety.

"I was shocked and a little angry because it was as if someone had stolen our data … we did not know what the implications might be up to what he's starting to hit is the news, "Poljak said.

He later learned that his data may have been leaked because one of his friends had participated in a trivia game on Facebook. "It's time to evaluate how we use these social media platforms online and pay close attention to what we publish and share," he said. million of its users around the world through the quiz.

The people who responded to the questionnaire gave not only their data but also information from the profiles of their friends on the social network.

Cambridge Analytica then bought this data from the application developers behind the quiz. The company is currently under investigation in the United States over allegations that it would have used the data to influence the last presidential election.

There would be several lawsuits against Facebook and Cambridge Analytica about the scandal.

The Australian Privacy Commissioner is investigating Facebook to see if he's breaking local privacy laws.

million. Poljak is the lead plaintiff in a complaint against Facebook to the Commissioner on behalf of the 311,127 Australian users who might have had their data fled into the scandal.

This is the first time in Australia that such a complaint has been filed with this office.

million. Poljak said companies should be held accountable for their actions.

"[It will be worth it] he sensitizes everyone and opens doors for people to pay attention to social media, that our data is not safe," he said.

A Facebook's spokesperson declined an interview with The Law Report, and also declined to answer questions about ongoing lawsuits against Facebook and her approach to privacy reforms around the world.

But she said in a statement: "We are cooperating fully with the current investigation Commissioner and will consider any additional evidence available when the Office of the Information Commissioner of the United Kingdom publishes its report. "

According to IMF Bentham, the law firm that funds the court challenge, the collective complaint asks Angelene Falk to determine that Facebook has interfered with users' privacy, that the company should pay compensation to Australian users concerned and that it is taking steps to prevent future data breaches.

The complaint also asks that Facebook apologize to its relevant Australian users

Case could change the case for protection

In the event of success, the Commissioner could order Facebook to pay a certain amount of money to the users who are the subject of the complaint, which can then be invoked in a clbad action before the Federal Court.

The law firm refused to say how many people have participated in the clbad action to date.

Mr. Poljak said he used Always read Facebook, but had reformed his list of friends to his friends and family, and no longer revealed the details of his online location.

"I really wanted to stop using it and shut up all that, but it's hurting my social life [life] and my status with my family and friends to keep in touch with them so … that What do I do? "

He did not expect much compensation from the court challenge, but said that he would give any matter he has received charity.

Norton Rose Fulbright's special advocate, Jim Lennon, specializing in data breaches and cybersecurity, said that the case had changed the face of privacy, at a time when the violations data were becoming more frequent.

While Facebook was vigorously defending against the court challenge, Lennon said that if users win, he expects more lawsuits to be launched in the future against human rights violations. data.

"It's bad for business in the sense that all of a sudden, the infringements on privacy … [are] are going to have very clearly public and financial consequences, at least more often, "said Lennon.

"But what will be good for the community, is that Australian companies and Commonwealth government agencies also covered by the Privacy Act, I believe, will take the protection of personal information even further. more seriously.the good thing.but i think that now people will not consider privacy as a good thing with respect to compliance.

"They will use it properly and understand really that it's a human right of their clientele … and protect the information properly. "

Topics:

information and communication,

internet culture,

Internet technology,

computers and technology,

law-crime-and-justice

social media,

Australia,

United States

Published

July 23, 2018 07:00:12

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