Facebook hasn’t got its house in order, says ICO’s Elizabeth Denham

Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg.
Getty

• Facebook is not even close to getting its house in
  order on protecting people’s privacy, according to Britain’s
  information commissioner Elizabeth Denham.
• She said Facebook’s business model rubs against privacy
  laws and it is part of an ecosystem that has shown a “very
  disturbing disregard” for the data of British
  citizens.
• Denham’s office fined Facebook last month for the
  Cambridge Analytica scandal, and has now
  referred it to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner over
  other concerns about data gathering.
• Facebook could be fined up to $1.6 billion if it has
  breached the EU’s GDPR privacy laws.

Facebook is not even close to getting its house in order on
protecting people’s privacy, according to the woman who hit the
company with a maximum fine for the Cambridge Analytica
catastrophe.

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office
(ICO) fined Facebook £500,000 ($645,000) last month for the
Cambridge Analytica data breach, as part of an unprecedented
investigation into data misuse in British politics.

Giving evidence to a British parliamentary committee on Tuesday,
information commissioner Elizabeth Denham said Facebook has a lot
of work to do to improve its privacy processes. She added that
regulation is required to ensure the company gets its act
together.

Denham said Facebook’s advertising business model rubs against
privacy laws and the company is part of an ecosystem that has
shown a “very disturbing disregard” for the data of British
citizens.

“Regulators need to look at the effectiveness of their
processes,” she told lawmakers of the Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport Committee. “There’s a fundamental tension between the
business model, the advertising business model of Facebook, and
fundamental rights like protection of privacy.”

Denham was speaking as the ICO published at 113-page
investigation into the use of data analytics in political
campaigns. The report provides a comprehensive account of the
Cambridge Analytica breach, which allowed the political
consultancy to exploit the data of 87 million Facebook users
harvested by developer Dr Aleksandr Kogan.

It also refers Facebook to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner
over “ongoing concerns” about the company’s “targeting functions
and techniques that are used to monitor individuals’ browsing
habits, interactions and behaviour across the internet.”

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner oversees GDPR complaints
made against Facebook. The EU’s GDPR laws allow data regulators
to fine companies up to 4% of their global turnover, which in
Facebook’s case would be $1.6 billion.

Business Insider has contacted Facebook for comment.

This story is developing.