United Kingdom imposes a fine of 565 thousand euros on Facebook

The United Kingdom authorities announced today that will impose a fine of 500,000 pounds (565 thousand euros) on the American Society of Social Communication Facebook for breach of the Data Protection Act.

The Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO), which protects privacy and freedom of information, has indicated that the company failed to protect personal information of its users and

ICO studies from February to Facebook in collaboration with the British consultant already closed Cambridge Analytica, for the alleged incorrect access to data of 87 million users of the social network in the world, which could be used in the United Kingdom's referendum campaign on accession to the European Union (EU), held on June 23, 2016.

The regulator stated that will also bring a lawsuit against the parent company of Cambridge Analytica SCL Elections become insolvent in May, for not having satisfied the request of the American professor David Carroll of l & # 39; i What information did he possess and how did he obtain it?

Cambridge Analytica offered electoral marketing services that would have been used during the brexit campaign or the British exit from the EU and others

Organizations that defend the data of consumers have regretted the small amount of fine to Facebook, which is the maximum that the OIC can impose under the Data Protection Act of 1998, which is what it's Applies in this case and not in the new European legislation entered into force this year, which provides for tougher penalties.

The fine was communicated to the United States company, which now has time to file new allegations.

In a statement, Erin Egan, head of Facebook's privacy protection, acknowledged, as she had already done, that they should have done more to investigate Analytica's allegations and taking action in 2015. "

" We worked closely with the OIC in its research Cambridge Analytica, as we did with the US authorities and other countries. We will come back to this report and we will respond soon. "

The British Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, said that the important thing was" to restore confidence in the integrity of the democratic process ", threatened because" the elector way does not know "

" People can not control their data or do not know or understand how they are used, "he said.

The OIC also studies, among other things, how eleven British parties used citizens' data during the referendum campaign and plan to present a final report next October.