Social networking giant Facebook is facing a lawsuit in the United Kingdom over its involvement in the Cambridge Analytica attack which occurred in 2018. Facebook You Owe Us is suing the company on behalf of almost one million British users.
According to Bloomberg, the group Facebook You Owe Us already notified the social networking site on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, via a letter.
The group said that legal action against the social media giant would provide individuals with rightful compensation. Moreover, winning this lawsuit entails that firms such as the social networking site cannot take and profit from such private information, reports Bloomberg.
It is currently being represented by Millberg London. Millberg London also represents Google You Owe Us.
Managing partner at the law firm, James Oldnall, said, “Cases like Facebook You Owe Us and Google You Owe Us provide consumers with an essential route to redress.”
“The courts are beginning to recognize that personal data has value, and that representative actions are a suitable mechanism to hold companies to account for abusing or misusing that data,” continued Oldnall.
It has been two years after the social media giant has been embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica data breach. The social networking site was found guilty of misusing millions of private data to target users with advertisements pertinent to the elections, reports BBC News.
Around 87 million users have been made vulnerable by the breach. As a result, the social media firm has been levied with a fine of £500,000. It has since reached a settlement with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in 2019, ending further investigation on the matter.
The group said that the fine paid towards the ICO failed to take into account the millions of Facebook users affected by the breach, “with not one penny” going to those parties, reports Bloomberg.
In a statement, Alvin Carpio, the lead claimant representing the group said, “By failing to protect our personal information from abuse, we believe that Facebook broke the law. Paying less than 0.01% of your annual revenue in fines – pocket change to Facebook – is clearly a punishment that does not fit the crime.”
Despite having reportedly sent over the letter, the social media giant said that it still has not received any documents, notes Bloomberg.
The company issued a statement saying, “The Information Commissioner’s Office investigation into these issues, which included the seizing and interrogating Cambridge Analytica’s servers, found no evidence that any U.K. or EY users’ data was transferred by Dr. Kogan to Cambridge Analytica.”
