Facebook data claims spark compo cases
BY ALASTAIR REID FACEBOOK and Cambridge Analytica are facing multiple lawsuits over alleged misuse of personal information.
At least five UK and US law firms are investigating claims for compensation after an app collected data about thousands of users and their Facebook friends.
Facebook yesterday started to notify 87million people worldwide, including nearly 1.1million Brits, that their personal information may have been harvested.
Mark Zuckerberg last week admitted his company “didn’t do enough” to prevent firms from using his platform “for harm”.
Users can find out if they are affected at facebook. com/help. Search for “Cambridge” and select “How can I tell if my information was shared with Cambridge Analytica?” AN INNOCENT camping trip on a historic island sparked a massive rescue operation – when someone raised fears that the gathering was a sinister suicide pact.
A group dressed in black and with their faces painted set up a teepee close to Lochleven Castle for two nights of “heavy metal” under the stars.
The campers, who included academics and children, rowed to Reed Bower Island in Loch Leven, Kinross, in an inflatable boat on Sunday evening.
As they made supper and told ghost stories, they were unaware that police, helicopters, boats and fire crews had been despatched to “save” them.
The emergency services even smashed the windows of their cars, which were parked on the shore, to check for a suicide note.
The group included Glasgow teacher David Henderson, Aberdeen University lecturer Panadiotis Filis and civil engineer Ross Anderson, along with Natalia Teo and Jude Anderson, both 10, seven-yearold Andrew Vassiliadis and a dog called Jazz.
David told the BBC the scene BY JAMES MONCUR j.moncur@dailyrecord.co.uk was like something “out of an X-Files episode”.
He explained: “We are just a group of friends who like to go wild camping, drink beer and listen to heavy metal music.
“We set up our teepee and got a fire going with lots of nice food.
“We were sitting around the fire telling ghost stories – and that’s when we started seeing loads of weird lights in the sky and across the water.
“And then there were more and more of them. The lights seemed to come towards us and the dog started barking. It was very surreal and we really didn’t know what it was.
“It was like something out of a movie, like some kind of an X-Files episode.”
The group dismantled their kit before the rescue teams took them off the island by boat – to a shoreside reception of
He said the adults were questioned by police, who were concerned about a possible kidnapping.
Despite all the drama, the episode has not put them off.
David said: “Apart from all that, it was fun. The kids were calm and are used to wild camping, so it was just another adventure really.”
A police spokeswoman said: “Inquiries were carried out, along with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and they were all traced safe and well at around midnight.”
Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle in 1567.