SEC, FBI probing Cambridge Analytica incident: Facebook

Facebook Inc., already facing scrutiny from US lawmakers and regulators over how a political consulting firm obtained personal information from users of the social network, is now being probed by more federal agencies focusing on the company’s disclosures about the incident.

Facebook said Monday that it’s cooperating with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on their reviews of the data transfer to Cambridge Analytica, which worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The company already was facing questions from the Federal Trade Commission, Bloomberg reported in March. That month, Facebook responded to reports that Cambridge Analytica obtained the data from a researcher who created a personality quiz app on the social network. More than 87 million people could have been affected, Facebook has said.

“We are cooperating with officials in the US, UK and beyond,” a Facebook spokesman said in an email. “We’ve provided public testimony, answered questions, and pledged to continue our assistance as their work continues.”

SAN FRANCISCO: BUG TEMPORARILY UNBLOCKED SOME CONTACTS, SAYS FB SANFRANCISCO:

Facebook said it is notifying more than 800,000 users that a software bug temporarily unblocked people at the social network and Messenger service. The glitch active between May 29 and June 5 has been fixed, said FB, which has been striving to regain trust in the aftermath of a Cambridge Analytica data scandal.