Cambridge Analytica scandal: Facebook faces £500,000 fine by UK privacy watchdog
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
The issued fine is the maximum available fine for breaches of the Data Protection Act
Social media giant Facebook wasfined for 500,000 pounds by the United Kingdom's data protection watchdog over failing to protect its users' data on Wednesday.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) isinvestigating the matter as reports emerged that the Facebook was used to harvest personal data of more than million users worldwide by the British consultancy firm, Cambridge Analytica.
The final report by the Information Commissioner's office concluded after the investigation saying, "Facebook contravened the law by failing to safeguard people's information," France based news agency AFP reported.
The report further says without detailing how the information may have been used, "the company had failed to be transparent about how people's data was harvested by others".
The issued fine is the maximum available fine for breaches of the Data Protection Act.
Because of the timing of the breaches, the ICO said it was unable to impose penalties that have since been introduced by the European General Data Protection, which would cap fines at 4.0 per cent of Facebook's global turnover.
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According to reports, in Facebook's case, this would have been amounted to around $1.6 billion.
Facebook recently came under scrutiny over the Cambridge Anlayitca scandal. The Mark Zuckerberg owned company also admitted that up to 87 million users' data was obtained with illegal measures by UK based consultancy firm, Cambridge Analytica -- same company who was working for US President Donald Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign.
However, the company has denied the accusations.
In May, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg apologised to the European Parliament for the "harm" caused.
IMF investment manager Nathan Landis told an Australian newspaper most awards for privacy breaches ranged between Aus$1,000 and Aus$10,000 (US$750-$7,500).
This implies a potential compensation bill of between Aus$300 million and Aus$3 billion.
(With inputs from news agencies)