Facebook faces symbolic but weak British fine on data breaches

LONDON (Reuters) – The British regulator of information has inflicted a small symbolic fine on Facebook for violating the data protection law after millions of user data have been misread by the consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

The fine of 500,000 pounds ($ 663,850) represents less than 10 minutes of revenue for the $ 590 billion social media business, but is the maximum allowed and highlights the falsity of Facebook's business practices.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been questioned by US and European lawmakers about how Cambridge Analytica improperly captures the personal data of 87 million Facebook users of a researcher . The company has promised to introduce reforms to its policies before local elections in Britain next year.

Updating his survey on the use of data analysis through political campaigns, the British Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO) said he would love Facebook although he can answer the commissioner before a final decision is made.

Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said Facebook had broken the law by not protecting people's information and had not been transparent about how the data was collected by others on his platform.

"New technologies that use data analytics to target targeted individuals allow campaign groups to connect to individual voters. But this can not be done at the expense of transparency, fairness and respect for the law, "she said in a statement.

The fine is the maximum allowed by the former UK Data Protection Act, which was superseded by the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May, in which companies may be fined.

Facebook said it was reviewing the report and that it would respond soon.

"As we have already said, we should have done more to investigate Cambridge Analytica and take measures in 2015, "Erin Egan, chief privacy officer of Facebook, said in a statement.

" We worked closely with the Information Commissioner's Office in their investigation into Cambridge Analytica, as with the American authorities "

British lawmakers launched an investigation into" false news "and its impact on election campaigns, and increasingly focused on Cambridge Analytica. The OIC stated that it was providing the interim report to facilitate this investigation.

The chairman of the parliamentary inquiry, Damian Collins, said that other applications might also have collected user data in the same way as the Cambridge Analytica data.

"Given that the OIC says that Facebook has broken the law, it is essential that we now know what other apps that worked on their platform may have skinned data in a similar manner ", he said.

Cambridge Analytica, who was hired by Donald Trump in 2016, denied his work on the US president's successful election campaign used data.

He also stated that, while he was working for the Leave.EU campaign group before the Brexit referendum in Britain in 2016, he did not ultimately work on the campaign.

However, the Information Commissioner's report indicated that other regulatory measures would include criminal proceedings against the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, SCL Elections, for failing to address the company's opinion. Enforcement of the regulatory body.

He also said that he would send warning letters to 11 political parties to compel them to audit their data protection practices.

He stated that he was investigating both the departure and remain activists in the referendum, and that he had issued a notice of execution for AIQ, a data society that was working for the official vote of the Brexit.

David Carroll, an academic who is trying to recover his data from Cambridge Analytica, said the report reinforced his legal challenge.

"Our day in the UK courts may be at hand," he told Reuters in an email.

"Fines may seem like rounding mistakes for Facebook … But if American voters can somehow recover and repatriate our full electoral profiles, democracies will have won the day against dark data."