#DeleteFacebook: Facebook faces billion-dollar losses, fines, and user protests over privacy breach
FACEBOOK is facing multibillion-dollar losses, government action — including in Australia — and a worldwide user protest after it exposed the personal details of more than 50 million users.
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FACEBOOK’S data leak that compromised the accounts of more than 50 million users could be its undoing after the Australian Privacy Commissioner threatened to take action against the social network yesterday and thousands of its users joined a #DeleteFacebook protest on a rival social network.
Users of the world’s largest social network begun deleting and deactivating their accounts in droves as part of the global trend that followed revelations Cambridge Analytica was able to harvest users’ personal information for use in US President Donald Trump’s 2016 political campaign.
EARLIER: How to delete Facebook — and why you should consider doing so
ANALYSIS: Facebook’s hour of reckoning
Fallout from the news and protest saw Facebook stock suffer its biggest plunge in five years yesterday, wiping $46 billion from the company’s market value and more than $6 billion from creator Mark Zuckerberg’s personal fortune.
Despite Facebook promising to launch an investigation into the unprecedented privacy breach the technology giant also appears set to face action from governments across the world, including Australia, the United States, and Great Britain.
Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said he was investigating whether the privacy breach affected Australian users and whether his Office should take further action, including enforceable undertakings or court-ordered penalties against Facebook.
“I am aware of the reports that users’ Facebook profile information was acquired and used without authorisation,” Mr Pilgrim said.
“My Office is making inquiries with Facebook to ascertain whether any personal information of Australians was involved.”
Britain’s Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said she would apply for a warrant to access users’ data used by Cambridge Analytica after the firm had proven “uncooperative,” and US Senator John Kennedy called for Mr Zuckerberg to answer questions about the privacy breach before Congress.
The information harvested from Facebook users came from a personality-testing app created by Global Science Research in 2015, which sold the information about users’ likes and dislikes to Cambridge Analytica, a firm run by billionaire Trump supporter Robert Mercer, so it could be used to predict users’ race, gender, sexual orientation, and purchasing habits.
Many of Facebook’s 2.2 billion users are reacting to news of the privacy breach with their feet, threatening to leave to the social network and posting angry tales and screenshots of their expunged accounts under the #DeleteFacebook trend on Twitter yesterday.
Curtin University adjunct senior research fellow Dr Kate Raynes-Goldie said the #DeleteFacebook protest could see significantly more users flee the social network than the company’s last user revolt in 2010 as warnings about how personal information could be exploited had become a reality.
“The difference is now that people can see the immediate consequences of privacy breaches that they couldn’t see before,” she said.
“Now there are all these issues like fake news and getting hacked that is making people rethink what Facebook is giving them.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA
What is Cambridge Analytica?
It’s a London-based data analysis firm owned by billionaire and prominent Donald Trump supporter Robert Mercer.
What did it do?
The company purchased the personal information of 50 million Facebook users from Cambridge University psychology professor Dr Aleksandr Kogan. He collected data from people using his personality-testing app on Facebook and, controversially, from their friends who did not consent to providing information.
When did this happen?
It happened in 2015, and the information was allegedly used by Cambridge Analytica to target Facebook users during the 2016 US presidential election campaign.
Do they still use this data?
Cambridge Analytica says it deleted the information, though some claim the data is still available online.
Who did it affect?
Information was harvested from users of Dr Kogan’s app, and also their friends. Australia’s Privacy Commissioner has asked Facebook whether Australians were directly affected by the breach.
Why is Facebook being blamed?
The social network knew about the data breach in 2015 but did not change its policies to protect users. Critics say the issue also highlights how data is mined and exploited on Facebook without users’ knowledge.
Originally published as #DeleteFacebook: Facebook faces billion-dollar losses, fines, and user protests over privacy breach
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