Australians in Facebook data leak to be notified

Facebook is set to notify hundreds of thousands of Australians who could have had their personal data improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

The page has been removed.

The page has been removed. Source: AAP

About 310,000 Australian Facebook users are set to find out their personal information may have been accessed by Cambridge Analytica.

The social media behemoth is expected from Monday afternoon to notify the 87 million users worldwide whose data may have been unknowingly and "improperly" shared with the British political consulting agency.

About one in 50 Australian users and one in every three American users are among those affected.

Cambridge Analytica developed controversial tools for use in political campaigns and worked on Donald Trump's run for US president.

It says it received data on 30 million users but never used that information in the 2016 campaign.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led social media giant will also show each of its 2.2 billion users a message prompting them to review the apps and websites connected to their account.

The Privacy Commissioner is investigating whether Facebook breached the Privacy Act, which requires organisations meet certain obligations including taking reasonable steps to ensure personal information is held securely.

Facebook has lost $100 billion of its sharemarket value since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke three weeks ago.

It last week suspended another political consulting firm amid media reports it had ties to Cambridge Analytica and received more than $4.5 million during Brexit from the triumphant Vote Leave campaign

The Canadian-based AggregateIQ says it has never been part of Cambridge Analytica or parent company SCL and has never entered into a contract with Cambridge Analytica.


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Australians in Facebook data leak to be notified | SBS News