Facebook cops a hefty hit in UK

BRITISH authorities have fined Facebook the maximum sum possible over a data breach that exposed the personal information of millions of people across the world.

And they have flagged the criminal prosecution of controversial political consultancy Cambridge Analytica for its role in the breach.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has said it is also investigating an insurance company run by Arron Banks – a major backer of the “leave” side in the 2016 Brexit referendum – to see if it illegally shared customer information.

Facebook has been fined £500,000 ($893,000), which is the maximum possible, for an extensive data breach.

The controversial social media company escaped a larger fine – up to 4 per cent of its global turnover, or $US1.6 billion ($2.15 billion) – because the breach occurred before tough new European rules came into effect in May that provide for such penalties.

The UK action against Facebook comes amid increasing pressure on the technology behemoth on fronts including privacy, its promotion of fake news and its predatory behaviour towards news publishers.

It follows the revelation on Tuesday that lawyers had lodged a privacy complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on behalf of more than 300,000 Australians whose data was accessed by Cambridge Analytica.