Cambridge Analytica Guilty of Deceiving Facebook Users: US FTC
Dec. 7, 2019Almost a year and a half after theCambridge Analytica scandalrocked Facebook and emboldened regulators around the world to clamp down on internet companies, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has found thenow-defunctBritish data analytics company guilty of deceptive trade practices.
According to an officialpress releasefrom the organization,“Cambridge Analytica, LLC engaged in deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting.”
The US trade regulator had earlier sued Cambridge Analytica, its then-CEO Alexander Nix, and app developer Aleksandr Kogan, for allegedly deceiving consumers. The administrative complaint alleged thatKogan worked with Nix and Cambridge Analyticato collect Facebook user data using Kogan’s GSRApp. The complaint alleged that the users of the app were falsely told their usernames and other identifiable information will not be collected.
The GSRApp, however,collected users’ Facebook User IDs, which connects individuals to their Facebook profiles. Both Nix and Kogan agreed to settle the FTC’s allegations for undisclosed penalties, thereby managing to escape stricter punishment. The FTC separately announced that Facebook will pay arecord-breaking $5 billion penaltyand submit to new restrictions that will hold the company accountable for the decisions it makes about its users’ privacy.
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