In an aerial view, people gather in front of a poster at the Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on July 7, 2023.
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Meta platforms It has agreed to a settlement of up to A$50 million ($31.85 million), Australia’s privacy watchdog said on Tuesday, ending a long and expensive legal proceeding for parent Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The Australian Information Commissioner’s Office alleged that some users’ personal information was being shared with Facebook’s personality quiz app, This is Your Digital Life, as part of a wider scandal.
The breach was first reported by the Guardian in early 2018, and Facebook was fined by regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2019.
Australia’s privacy regulator has been embroiled in a legal battle with Meta since 2020. According to a 2020 statement, the personal data of Australian Facebook users was “at risk of disclosure” to consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and used for profiling. .
In March 2023, he persuaded the high court not to hear an appeal, which is considered a victory that allowed the watchdog to continue the trial.
In June 2023, the country’s federal court ordered Meta and the privacy commissioner to enter into mediation.
“Today’s settlement is the largest ever settlement to address the privacy concerns of Australians,” Australian Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said.
British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica was found to have stored the personal data of millions of Facebook users without their consent, before using the data primarily for political advertising to support Donald Trump and the UK’s Brexit campaign.
A Meta spokesman told Reuters the company had settled the case in Australia without admitting it, closing a chapter in allegations about the company’s past practices.
