Explained: Why is Facebook facing legal action in Australia

In proceedings in the Federal Court, the Australian Information Commissioner alleged Facebook repeatedly breached privacy laws by disclosing user information.

Facebook, Facebook australia legal action, Cambridge Analytica, This is Your Digital Life, Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook Cambridge Analytica, express explained, indian express

In Australia, Facebook could be fined up to AUD 1.7 million under the country’s Privacy Act.

On Monday (March 9), Australia’s privacy regulator announced legal action against Facebook, claiming that the social media giant shared personal details of more than 3 lakh users with political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica without their knowledge.

In proceedings in the Federal Court, the Australian Information Commissioner alleged Facebook repeatedly breached privacy laws by disclosing user information to the “This is Your Digital Life” app, according to a statement.

The personal data of 311,127 Australian Facebook users was “exposed to the risk of being disclosed” to Cambridge Analytica and used for profiling purposes, according to the statement.

Story continues below this ad

What is the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica scandal?

Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct British political consulting firm, was at the centre of a massive scandal in 2018 when it was revealed that the company used data from Facebook to potentially swing voters in US elections and other campaigns. US President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign was one of its clients.

The firm allegedly harvested data of tens of millions of Facebook users without permission, in order to design a software to predict and influence people’s voting preferences.

In 2014, Dr Aleksandr Kogan, a psychology professor at Cambridge University, was allegedly paid USD 800,000 by Cambridge Analytica to develop an application, thisisyourdigitallife, to harvest data of Facebook users.

Although the app was downloaded by 270,000 people (these people granted permission for data collection), it extracted personal information of each of the users’ friends without consent. Kogan then passed on all the data collected to CA and other companies.

Story continues below this ad

When the app was downloaded, Kogan had access not only to users’ basic information such as city of residence and details about friends, but also data from the profiles of their Facebook friends.

Data gathered by Kogan were allegedly used by CA to tailor its political advertisements for individuals whose likings and interests were already known to them.

In March 2018, reports in The New York Times and The Observer broke the scandal, following which law enforcement agencies in the US, UK, and Europe expressed concern.

Regulators in the US accused Cambridge Analytica of engaging “in deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting”.

Story continues below this ad

In July 2019, Facebook was fined a record $ 5 billion by the US Federal Trade Commission for its role in the scandal. In the UK, it was fined GBP 500,000.

In Australia, Facebook could be fined up to AUD 1.7 million under the country’s Privacy Act.