Map
Case

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica: ICO and FTC penalties

On 25 October 2018 the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined Facebook GBP 500,000, the maximum then allowed: developers accessed user data without clear enough consent, and one harvested data on up to 87 million people, some of it reaching SCL Group, parent of Cambridge Analytica (ICO). On 24 July 2019 the FTC announced a USD 5 billion penalty for Facebook's violation of its 2012 FTC order (FTC). In October 2019 Facebook withdrew its appeal and agreed to pay, admitting no liability (ICO).

Industry
Data platform
Frameworks applied
Privacy as a public-good dilemma
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Frameworks applied

This case is read through the frameworks below.

  • Privacy as a public-good dilemmaWhen a product team designs data-consent flows, how should it coordinate users so that one person's choice to share data does not expose others' privacy?

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Federal Trade Commission (2019) FTC Imposes $5 Billion Penalty and Sweeping New Privacy Restrictions on Facebook. FTC press releases.No DOIftc.govSource page
  2. Information Commissioner's Office (2018) ICO issues maximum £500,000 fine to Facebook for failing to protect users’ personal information. ICO news and blogs.No DOIico.org.ukCited in 1 article
  3. Information Commissioner's Office (2019) Statement on an agreement reached between Facebook and the ICO. ICO news and blogs.No DOIico.org.ukSource page