Facebook loses bid to avoid Australian legal action over data mishandling claims
The Federal Court has ruled against Facebook’s attempt to avoid a legal challenge over allegations it mishandled Australians’ private data.
Technology
Don't miss out on the headlines from Technology. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Facebook will not be able to avoid a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from Australia’s Privacy Commissioner over allegations it mishandled the personal information of more than 300,000 Australians after the Federal Court ruled against the social media giant today.
The Australian lawsuit alleges the company committed serious and repeated privacy breaches against its Australian users by allowing their information to be harvested by a researcher and sold to shadowy data firm Cambridge Analytica.
The case follows a two-year investigation by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner after Facebook’s biggest scandal to date that affected more than 87 million of its users.
The US tech giant had applied to “set aside” the Australian legal proceedings as it was not based in the country — an application dismissed today.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner launched an investigation into Facebook just one month after the privacy breach came to light, in April 2018, and filed a lawsuit against the company in March.
Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said she took the extraordinary step because “all entities operating in Australia must be transparent and accountable in the way they handle personal information” and users were not able to control how some of their most personal information was shared.
MORE NEWS:
My boys are gentlemen: Mum of Macris’ accused killers speaks out
Mafia mobsters, crooks’ bizarre drug smuggling tactics
Cecilia Haddad’s accused killer seeking COVID jail release
Secrets behind The Masked Singer’s grand finale
“We consider the design of the Facebook platform meant that users were unable to exercise reasonable choice and control about how their personal information was disclosed,” Ms Falk said.
“Facebook’s default settings facilitated the disclosure of personal information, including sensitive information, at the expense of privacy.”
The lawsuit claimed the personal information of 311,127 Australian users was sold to Cambridge Analytica “for purposes including political profiling, well outside users’ expectations,” Ms Falk said.
The private data collected and sold included Facebook users’ political views, religious beliefs, friends, ‘likes,’ sexual preferences, and even private messages.
The information was allegedly used by Cambridge Analytica to influence voters in the 2016 US election.
Facebook’s American arm applied for an injunction to avoid the legal action from Australia; an application that was rejected by Federal Court Justice Thomas Thawley today.
Facebook has until midday on Wednesday to apply for redactions to the Judgement before it is released.
A spokesperson for Facebook said, “We are aware of the Court’s decision today and we are reviewing it carefully”.
In a statement, the OAIC said the Judgement showed it had “established a prima facie case that Facebook Inc was carrying on business in Australia, and was collecting and holding personal information in Australia at the relevant time”.
The Federal Court could issue penalties of $1.7 million for each serious or repeated privacy breach, though it’s not clear how many breaches by Facebook a court could find.
Originally published as Facebook loses bid to avoid Australian legal action over data mishandling claims