NEWS25 October 2018
All MRS websites use cookies to help us improve our services. Any data collected is anonymised. If you continue using this site without accepting cookies you may experience some performance issues. Read about our cookies here.
All MRS websites use cookies to help us improve our services. Any data collected is anonymised. If you continue using this site without accepting cookies you may experience some performance issues. Read about our cookies here.
NEWS25 October 2018
Data analytics GDPR News Privacy Public Sector Social media Technology UK
UK – Facebook has been fined £500,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – the maximum possible fine under the previous data protection legislation – for failing to protect its users’ personal data.
The ICO said in a statement that the company had processed the personal information of users ‘unfairly’ between 2007 and 2014 by giving app developers access to data without their ‘clear and informed consent’, and also failed to properly check which apps and developers were using the platform.
Data scientist Aleksandr Kogan developed a Facebook personality survey app through which the personal data of up to 87 million users was harvested, some of which was later shared with the parent company of Cambridge Analytica. The harvested data included the personal information of ‘at least one million’ UK Facebook users, the ICO said.
The ICO announced its intention to fine Facebook in July but the fine has now been upheld after considering representations from the company.
Elizabeth Denham, information commissioner, said: "Facebook failed to sufficiently protect the privacy of its users before, during and after the unlawful processing of this data. A company of its size and expertise should have known better and it should have done better."
The fine of £500,000 was served under the Data Protection Act 1998, which was replaced by the new Data Protection Act and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May. Under the terms of GDPR, the maximum fine would have been much higher – £17m or four percent of the company’s global turnover.
The ICO has been investigating how data analytics is employed for political reasons since early 2017, when it began looking into whether personal information had been misused by campaigns during the EU referendum, later expanding its investigation to include political parties, analytics companies and social media platforms.
Denham said further discussion is needed about whether current legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks are "adequate to protect the principles on which our society is based".
A further update on the investigation will be shared with the government’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee on 6 November.
Newsletter
Sign up for the latest news and opinion.
You will be asked to create an account which also gives you free access to premium Impact content.
Julian Adams of @decodingloyalty reflects on how drawing on social identity can help marketers to challenge the sta… https://t.co/TcdyOopBeL
Google tests AI chatbot https://t.co/mLfLNNmDeN #mrx #marketresearch
Insight Association seeks clarity on Colorado Privacy Act https://t.co/9IBlTufUNb #mrx #marketresearch
The world's leading job site for research and insight
Spalding Goobey Associates
Head of Culture/Trends – Insights & Strategy Consultancy
£90 – 100,000 + Bens
Resources Group
Senior Project Manager (Qualitative) – International Field Market Research Consultancy
c. £40,000
Resources Group
Strategic Insights Consultant (Consumer Strategy) – Strategic Insights Consultancy
c. £50–70,000
Featured company
Town/Country: London
Tel: +44 (0)20 7490 7888
Kudos Research are leading providers of premium quality UK and International Telephone Data-Collection. Specialising in hard to reach B2B and Consumer audiences, we achieve excellent response rates and provide robust, actionable, verbatim-rich data. Methodologies include CATI, . . .
Related Articles
RT @amsr_uk: NEW BOOK LAUNCHED on "British love affair wd pets" uses Archive as a source "From pet economics to pet cemeteries, this wo…
The post-demographic consumerism trend means segments such age are often outdated, from @trendwatching #TrendSemLON
0 Comments