After further communication with Facebook, the penalty may be adjusted. ICO usually does not disclose preliminary results, but they said that the reason for this is mainly because the public is very concerned about this. The agency also promised to Updated content in October.
Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan acknowledged in a statement on Tuesday that Facebook should have taken more steps to investigate statements related to Cambridge analysis and take action in 2015.
The penalties in the UK may only be the beginning. The rest of Europe and the United States are also investigating the matter. For example, the US Federal Trade Commission may also impose huge fines on Facebook. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are also investigating the analysis between Facebook and Cambridge. Contact.
Egan mentioned a lot of investigations related to the company. 'We have been working closely with ICO on the Cambridge analysis survey and are also working with the US and other governments.' She said, 'We will evaluate this report, And respond to ICO as soon as possible. '
The UK's survey is broad, not limited to Facebook, but also includes the entire ecosystem, involving 172 organizations and 285 individuals, covering the collection and sale of Internet data for political purposes. British Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham (Elizabeth Denham) expressed concern about technology companies, political parties, and other parties that collect sensitive information on the 'extreme lack of transparency'.
'ICO's survey concluded that Facebook's lack of transparency makes it difficult for users to understand how political parties or campaigns will be targeted, for what reason, aiming at them. 'Denham said, 'Although these are about Facebook ads Pattern concerns are common in commercial applications, but they are particularly prominent when used in political campaigns.'
In a 40-page report, British regulators accused Facebook of allowing Cambridge University researcher Aleksandr Kogan to develop an application that would analyze Cambridge data and collect Facebook users and their friends. The social media giant allowed applications in 2015. The information was collected before the year, but British regulators said on Tuesday that they were worried that many users of the site 'may not fully understand that their data was obtained in this way'.
UK investigators also questioned that Facebook may not provide adequate protection to ensure that other third-party app developers do not abuse social data. The agency said Facebook missed an opportunity in 2014 and failed to stop Cogan on the site. behavior.
They also said that they are currently considering penalizing Alexander Nix, former CEO of Cogand and Cambridge Analytical.
The main concern in the UK is the extent to which Facebook's data is used to manipulate the referendum on the Brexit. The British government also said on Tuesday that they will initiate criminal proceedings against Cambridge analyst parent company SCL Elections.
UK regulators have pledged to conduct a more rigorous review of Facebook. Cambridge analysts have said that they have deleted the relevant data after receiving Facebook's notice in 2015. But British regulators are investigating this. They found that there is evidence that Copies of these data were shared with other agencies and even shared with institutions outside the system, which also led to doubts about the authenticity of the Cambridge analysis.
Since the data breach scandal was exposed, Facebook has promised to evaluate all third-party apps on its platform, while adopting new transparency measures, including setting up an online 'storage room' for all political ads on its site.
But this is not the first time in Europe to punish Facebook. EU antitrust regulators fined Facebook $122 million last year. The EU competition commissioner believes that the social networking company provided misleading information about its privacy promises when it acquired the chat app WhatsApp in 2014. Facebook also A fine of $164,000 was imposed for failing to comply with French data protection regulations.