Paying a price with privacy

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who went to ground for five days following the scandal, has since said he is “really sorry that this happened” and pledged to investigate if app developers had exploited users’ information.

But experts say the crisis was “a turning point” for social media users and many are now considering whether to delete Facebook accounts.

When Facebook learned Cambridge Analytica had bought data, it demanded it be deleted, but whistleblower Christopher Wylie, claims Facebook never checked and the firm continued to use it to target US voters.

Former Victorian privacy commissioner David Watts, now a professor of information law at La Trobe University, says the scandal is a “wake-up call” for social media users, who may not have realised their data was being used by third parties.

The impact of Facebook’s biggest crisis is clear. The hashtag #DeleteFacebook is trending on Twitter. Mr Watts says the scandal has damaged Facebook’s reputation.

Australian social media strategist Meg Coffey says the scandal will make Facebook users more reticent to share intimate details of their lives.

“You see people say, ‘oh my God, I had no idea’. People will think twice,” she says.