Facebook agrees to pay £500,000 UK fine over Cambridge Analytica scandal
30 Oct 2019
Facebook has agreed to pay £500,000 in fine for breaches of data protection law related to the harvesting of data by consultancy Cambridge Analytica, Britain’s information rights regulator said on Wednesday.
Facebook also withdrew its appeal against the £500,000 penalty imposed by UK data watchdog and agreed to pay the fine, the highest possible, ending more than a year of litigation between the regulator and social media network.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has faced questioning by US and EU lawmakers over how the political consultancy obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users from a researcher.
The Information Commissioner’s Office issued the small but symbolic fine last year after it said data from at least 1 million British users had been among the information harvested by Cambridge Analytica and used for political purposes.
On Wednesday the ICO said that in dropping its appeal and agreeing to pay the fine, Facebook had not made an admission of liability.
“The ICO’s main concern was that UK citizen data was exposed to a serious risk of harm. Protection of personal information and personal privacy is of fundamental importance,” said ICO Deputy Commissioner James Dipple-Johnstone.
“We are pleased to hear that Facebook has taken, and will continue to take, significant steps to comply with the fundamental principles of data protection.”
The Information Commissioner's Office issued a small but symbolic fine last year after it said data from at least 1 million British users had been among the information harvested by Cambridge Analytica and used for political purposes.
The ICO announced its intention to fine Facebook in July 2018, without giving Facebook a chance to respond, and ultimately issued the official penalty notice three months later.
In October last year, Facebook appealed against the ICO fine, and in June 2019 the tribunal issued an interim decision “holding that procedural fairness and allegations of bias on the part of the ICO should be considered as part of the appeal, and that the ICO should be required to disclose materials relating to its decision-making process”.
Facebook said it was pleased to have reached a settlement and the company wished it had done more to investigate the claims about Cambridge Analytica in 2015.
“We made major changes to our platform back then, significantly restricting the information app developers could access,” said Harry Kinmouth, Facebook’s Associate General Counsel.
“Protecting people’s information and privacy is a top priority for Facebook, and we are continuing to build new controls to help people protect and manage their information.”