FB faces data breach probe; ‘misused’ in Trump election

London, March 20 

Britain is investigating whether Facebook did enough to protect data after a whistleblower said a London-based political consultancy hired by Donald Trump improperly accessed information on 50 million Facebook users to sway public opinion.

Facebook shares closed down nearly 7 per cent on Monday, wiping nearly $40 billion off its market value as investors worried that damage to the reputation of the world’s largest social media network would deter users and advertisers.

Elizabeth Denham, the head of Britain’s Information Commission, is seeking a warrant to search the offices of consultancy Cambridge Analytica after a whistleblower revealed it had harvested the private information of millions of people to support Trump’s 2016 US presidential campaign.

“We are looking at whether or not Facebook secured and safeguarded personal information on the platform and whether when they found out about the loss of the data they acted robustly and whether or not people were informed,” Denham told BBC Radio.

US and European lawmakers have demanded an explanation of how the consulting firm gained access to the data in 2014 and why Facebook failed to inform its users, raising broader industry questions about consumer privacy. In Washington, the Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee sent a letter on Monday to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg requesting information and a briefing on the Facebook user data. — Reuters 

Consultancy firm behind breach? 

• Cambridge Analytica, hired by Donald Trump for poll campaign, markets itself as a source of consumer research, targeted advertising and other data-related services 
• Created in 2013, it caters to political and corporate clients
• Was launched with $15 million in backing from billionaire Republican donor Robert Mercer and a name chosen by the-then future Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon

Data harvested by British academic

• Facebook says data harvested by British academic Aleksandr Kogan, who created an app on the platform that was downloaded by 2.7 lakh people, providing access not only to their own personal data but also their friends
• It says Kogan then violated its policies by passing data to Cambridge Analytica; FB has since suspended links with the firm 
• Kogan changed terms of personality-test app on FB from academic to commercial part way through project
• He says FB didn’t object; FB says it wasn’t informed