In an aerial view, folks collect in entrance of an indication posted at Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California, July 7, 2023.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Photographs
Meta Platforms has agreed to a A$50 million settlement ($31.85 million), Australia’s privateness watchdog mentioned on Tuesday, closing long-drawn, costly authorized proceedings for the Fb dad or mum over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The Workplace of the Australian Info Commissioner had alleged that private data of some customers was being disclosed to Fb’s persona quiz app, That is Your Digital Life, as a part of the broader scandal.
The breaches had been first reported by the Guardian in early 2018, and Fb acquired fines from regulators in the US and the UK in 2019.
Australia’s privateness regulator has been caught up within the authorized battle with Meta since 2020. The non-public knowledge of 311,127 Australian Fb customers was “uncovered to the chance of being disclosed” to consulting agency Cambridge Analytica and used for profiling functions, in line with the 2020 assertion.
It satisfied the excessive court docket in March 2023 to not hear an attraction, which is taken into account to be a win that allowed the watchdog to proceed its prosecution.
In June 2023, the nation’s federal court docket ordered Meta and the privateness commissioner to enter mediation.
“At this time’s settlement represents the biggest ever cost devoted to addressing considerations concerning the privateness of people in Australia,” the Australian Info Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd mentioned.
Cambridge Analytica, a British consulting agency, was recognized to have saved private knowledge of thousands and thousands of Fb customers with out their permission, earlier than utilizing the info predominantly for political promoting, together with helping Donald Trump and the Brexit marketing campaign within the UK.
A Meta spokesperson instructed Reuters that the corporate had settled the lawsuit in Australia on a no admission foundation, closing a chapter on allegations concerning previous practices of the agency.
