Brazil’s Justice Ministry announced a $1.6 million fine for Facebook on Monday. It followed an investigation into the Cambridge Analytica case that launched in April 2018.
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Facebook Should Have Been ‘Much More Careful’
In a statement, the Brazilian Justice Ministry said:
It’s evident that the data of about 443,000 users of the platform were made available by the developers of the app ‘thisisyourdigitallife’ for reasons that are at least questionable…
The statement also said that the firms could not prove fewer users had been affected. The ministry told the firms that they should “much more careful” about how users’ data was shared. It added that Facebook had not informed users about what their privacy settings meant. “The model of consent adopted had important implications to the people that had their data exposed,” it said.
Facebook can still appeal the decision. Responding, a company spokesperson in Brazil told Bloomberg News:
There is no evidence data from users in Brazil were transferred to Cambridge Analytica. We are currently evaluating our legal options in this case.
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