The Cambridge Analytica scandal, which unfolded in 2018, involved harvested Facebook data of 87 million people being used for advertising during the US' 2016 elections. However, the BBC now reports that mass legal action is now being launched against Facebook for misuse of information from almost one million users in England and Wales.
Be that as it may, Facebook has said it has not received any documents regarding this claim. The group taking action - Facebook You Owe Us - follows a similar mass action law suit against Google; Google You Owe Us, led by Richard Lloyd, is also active for another alleged mass data breach, and both represented by Millberg London, a London-based law firm.
While the Google case is being heard in the English Supreme Court in April next year, the case against Facebook bases its arguemnet on the allegation that by taking data without consent, Facebook failed to meet their legal obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.
It might be worthy of note that in October 2018, the UK's data protection watchdog fined Facebook £500,000 for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook has also issued an apology since then allowed users to check which "banned apps" had accessed their data.
However, representative claimant in the case, Alvin Carpio had this to say: "When we use Facebook, we expect that our personal data is being used responsibly, transparently, and legally. 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. Apologising for breaking the law is simply not enough. Facebook, you owe us honesty, responsibility and redress. We will fight to hold Facebook to account."
The UK In Focus
Population: 66.8 million (Compared to South Africa's 59.6 million)
GDP: $2.87 Trillion (Compared to South Africa's $369.85 billion)
GDP Per Capita: $42,370 (Compared to South Africa's $6,193)
