Facebook faces
THE Australian Privacy Commissioner could impose new regulations and multimilliondollar penalties on Facebook after launching an investigation into revelations it “improperly shared” the personal information of more than 311,000 Australians.
The formal inquiry was launched just hours after the social media giant revealed 87 million users had their data harvested without their permission and sold to data firm Cambridge Analytica, rather than the 50 million estimated earlier.
The highly personal information, including Facebook users’ political views, religious beliefs, friends, and “likes”, was allegedly used to influence voters in the 2016 US election.
Australia’s investigation will look into whether Facebook broke Australian privacy laws and “adequately notified” users that their information had been sold, but privacy experts warned it was a “David and Goliath battle” and could be hard to prove social media users hadn’t accidentally con- sented to handing over information.
Acting Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk announced the Facebook investigation two weeks after requesting information about Australians’ involvement in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
“I have opened a formal investigation into Facebook, following confirmation from Facebook that the information of over 300,000 Australian users may have been acquired and used without authorisation,” Ms Falk said.
“The investigation will consider whether Facebook has breached the Privacy Act. Given the global nature of this matter, the OAIC will confer with regulatory authorities internationally.”
The inquiry would look into whether Facebook took their
This is a real David and Goliath encounter
— DAVID WATTS
“reasonable steps” to ensure users’ information was held securely, Ms Falk said, and whether Australians were “adequately notified about the collection and handling of their personal information”.
If the Commissioner finds Facebook broke privacy law, it could impose new regulations, enforceable undertakings, or seek court-ordered penalties of up to $2.1 million.
La Trobe University information law and policy professor, and former Victorian privacy commissioner, David Watts said the investigation was an important move by Australian authorities but warned it faced serious hurdles to prosecuting Facebook.
“This is a real David and Goliath encounter,” he said.
“It’s (the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) versus one of the richest corporations on Earth.
“Facebook senior management has also been completely reluctant to subject themselves to scrutiny by external legal bodies. They said ‘thanks but no thanks’ to an invitation to attend a parliamentary committee in Britain.”