"Facebook (Meta) To Settle Cambridge Analytica Data Leak for $725M"
Facebook (Meta) has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a 2018 class-action lawsuit over the Cambridge Analytica data leak. The proposed settlement is the highest ever reached in a US data privacy class-action, according to the plaintiffs' lawyers. The plaintiffs' lead attorneys, Derek Loeser and Lesley Weaver, said in a joint statement that this historic settlement would provide significant relief to the class in this complicated and new privacy issue. Meta issued a statement indicating that, during the past three years, it has revised its approach to privacy and established a comprehensive privacy program. In the Cambridge Analytica privacy controversy, the corporation granted access to the personal data of around 87 million Facebook users without their explicit consent. How Facebook managed user data violated a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) privacy settlement from 2011. At the time, Facebook was accused of tricking users over how it handled their data. A settlement with the FTC mandated that the corporation investigate its privacy practices. Facebook agreed in 2019 to pay a $5 billion fine to settle the FTC investigation into the Cambridge Analytica issue. In March 2018, it was disclosed publicly that a group of academics had acquired a vast amount of user data and shared it with Cambridge Analytica, a commercial data analytics firm that allegedly used it to target US voters during the 2016 Presidential election. The researchers collected user data via an app created by Dr. Aleksandr Kogan, a psychology lecturer at the University of Cambridge. The "thisisyourdigitallife" app has been available to users since 2014. It was provided by Global Science Research (GSR) and asked users to complete an online survey for $1 or $2. The app sought access to the user's profile information, and over 270,000 users consented to the app using their personal information for academic research. This article continues to discuss Facebook (Meta) agreeing to pay $725 million to settle the class-action lawsuit filed in 2018 over the Cambridge Analytica data leak.
Security Affairs reports "Facebook (Meta) To Settle Cambridge Analytica Data Leak for $725M"