Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Audits

Aussie Watchdog Sues Facebook Over Cambridge Analytica Breach

Australia’s privacy watchdog announced legal action against Facebook Monday for alleged “systematic failures” exposing more than 300,000 Australians to a data breach by Cambridge Analytica.

Australia’s privacy watchdog announced legal action against Facebook Monday for alleged “systematic failures” exposing more than 300,000 Australians to a data breach by Cambridge Analytica.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner said it had initiated proceedings against the tech giant and that Facebook committed “serious and/or repeated interferences with privacy”.

The commission alleges the personal information of Australian Facebook users was disclosed without their permission to an app called “This Is Your Digital Life”, which then sold the data to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

The now-defunct British company was at the centre of a massive scandal involving Facebook data hijacking in 2018.

US regulators said the firm “engaged in deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting”.

Australia’s watchdog began its own investigation into Cambridge Analytica two years ago, with today’s announcement it was pursuing Facebook in the courts the first action resulting from the probe.

“Facebook’s default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy,” Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said.

“We claim these actions left the personal data of around 311,127 Australian Facebook users exposed to be sold and used for purposes including political profiling, well outside users’ expectations.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Facebook’s own investigation found that some data from 87 million users in the United States and elsewhere had been compromised by the firm, and claimed the practices violated the social network’s terms of service.

In a statement, Facebook said it had “actively engaged” with the Australian investigation but refused to comment further on the specifics of the matter as it was before the court.

The company added it had made “major changes” to its platforms in consultation with international regulators to “restrict the information available to app developers, implement new governance protocols and build industry-leading controls to help people protect and manage their data”.

It paid a record $5 billion penalty in a settlement with the US regulator, while in the UK was fined more than $650,000 for the breach.

It is unclear how much Facebook could be fined if the Australian action succeeds, but each contravention of Australia’s Privacy Act attracts a maximum penalty of Aus$1.7 million ($1.1 million).

Related: Facebook Fined $1.65 Mn by Brazil

Related: Turkey Fines Facebook for Breach of Data Protection Laws

Related: Italy Fines Facebook Over Cambridge Analytica Case

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Learn how the LOtL threat landscape has evolved, why traditional endpoint hardening methods fall short, and how adaptive, user-aware approaches can reduce risk.

Watch Now

Join the summit to explore critical threats to public cloud infrastructure, APIs, and identity systems through discussions, case studies, and insights into emerging technologies like AI and LLMs.

Register

People on the Move

Cloud security startup Upwind has appointed Rinki Sethi as Chief Security Officer.

SAP security firm SecurityBridge announced the appointment of Roman Schubiger as the company’s new CRO.

Cybersecurity training and simulations provider SimSpace has appointed Peter Lee as Chief Executive Officer.

More People On The Move

Expert Insights

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest cybersecurity news, threats, and expert insights. Unsubscribe at any time.