Since March 2018, after several reports, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been investigating allegations that Cambridge Analytica improperly obtained the data of up to 87 million Facebook users. In light of the investigation, the US regulators have approved of a record fine of $5 billion on Facebook for the privacy breach. Facebook and UK based Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy firm which is under water and at the heart of a massive worldwide data breach, after it was found to have access to millions of Facebook users’ personal data, have been under investigation in the United States.
The FTC investigation was majorly focused on whether Facebook had violated a 2011 agreement under which it was required to clearly notify users and gain “express consent” to share their data.
According to sources, the settlement was approved by the FTC in a 3-2 vote, with Republican commissioners in favour and Democrats opposed. The democrats wanted stricter limits to be imposed and also felt that the fine was inadequate. However, the fine still needs to be approved and finalized by the Justice Department’s civil division. US Senator Mark Warner said, “With the FTC either unable or unwilling to put in place reasonable guardrails to ensure that user privacy and data are protected, it’s time for Congress to act.”
The Cambridge Analytica scandal had greatly marred the reputation of Facebook in concerning its users’ data securitty. In 2014, Facebook had introduced a quiz that invited users to find out their personality type. Along with collecting the data of those who undertook the quiz, the app also collected the data of the friends of the users, which amounted to a total of 87 million people. It was claimed that some of the data had been sold to Cambridge Analytica, who used it for underhand purposes. Thereafter, Facebook sent a notice to the people, informing them that their data had been breached.
Cambridge Analytica is under suspicion of influencing the outcome of the US 2016 presidential election and the UK Brexit referendum. It was alleged that the firm had psychologically profiled the US voters to help in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign of 2016.
Along with this, Cambridge Analytica was also alleged to have been roped by the Congress party for the elections despite the company’s history when it comes to data protection. Cambridge Analytica drives on psychoanalysis of internet users through the traces left from their internet activities, that is, what they search, what they like and where they live and who they are. In 2017, Cambridge Analytica became associated with Congress, as revealed by a whistleblower, which explains the sudden but exponential rise of Congress and its political campaigns on social media including Twitter and Facebook. Rahul Gandhi could not manage to get active engagement even two years after making his Twitter debut. Cambridge Analytica may have helped the grand old party get engagements through illegal tactics, breaching the privacy of the users, however, the Congress denies these connections.
Facebook, which has over 2.38 billion user profiles has been unable to avert massive data breaches, jeopardising the personaly data of millions. A $5 billion fine on Facebook is going to further add to the woes of the company. If the fine is approved, the shortcomings of Facebook concerning privacy of individuals will be further legitimized and we might see more nations taking similar action against the social media mammoth. Prior to this, the largest privacy-related settlement fine was levied against Google, which faced $22.5 million fine in 2012 over its privacy policies concerning the Safari browser. Facebook knew about the serious data breach, and in order to take full responsibility of the breach, had already set aside a significant amount of money for settlements, which means they will not feel much added financial strain from this penalty. This amounts to roughly one quarter of Facebook’s yearly profit. However, apart from the fine, additional measures may be placed on the company, such as increased privacy oversight, or even personal repercussions for the company’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg; although this is not known at this stage.
Apart from the financial woes and stringent measures, the damage to the social networking website’s repute will be the most overwhelming. Facebook is already suffering from the accusations of breaching privacy and data mismanagement, but this fine from the US regulators is going to be a conclusive proof to the accusations inviting more troubles for the social media giant.
