1 million UK Facebook users could have compensation claims for misuse of their personal information
The law firm representing UK victims of the Facebook data breach have welcomed the announcement that Facebook users in the UK, whose details may have been shared with Cambridge Analytica, will be made aware from today
Posted on 14 April 2018
According to reports, each of the 2.2 billion users of Facebook will start getting messages titled ‘Protecting Your Information’ with a link to the apps which give third party access.
For those people whose details may have been shared with Cambridge Analytica, the message will include the following paragraph:
“We have banned the website 'This is Your Digital Life’ which one of your friends used Facebook to log into. We did this because the website may have misused some of your Facebook information by sharing it with a company called Cambridge Analytica.”
However, Sean Humber, a data protection lawyer at Leigh Day called for Facebook to make it clearer where there has been a breach.
“This message from Facebook is welcome but should have been made much sooner and is an exercise in damage control. From what we can see, all Facebook users are receiving a message with exactly the same general heading, ‘Protecting Your Information’, whether Facebook believe the person’s information may have been misused or not.
“Facebook should make it far clearer to those affected where they believe that their information may have been misused.” Mr Humber said.
Sean Humber and Chris Haan in the Information Law team at Leigh Day are investigating claims for compensation on behalf of those affected for the misuse of private information and breach of the Data Protection Act by Cambridge Analytica and / or associated companies.
The law firm have confirmed that they are particularly keen to establish whether personal information may have been used for political purposes, including in the 2016 EU Referendum.
Cambridge Analytica have stated that they received the information in good faith from a reputable academic, it was deleted after they became aware it had not been obtained in line with Facebook’s terms of service and that they did no work on the EU Referendum.
Sean Humber, a partner and specialist data lawyer at Leigh Day said: “Individual UK Facebook users are only today finding out that their personal information may have been passed on to Cambridge Analytica in 2014. Cambridge Analytica now need to urgently clarify whose personal information they received and what they did with it, including whether they passed it on to other organisations.
“If it then becomes clear that Cambridge Analytica have obtained personal information about individuals without their knowledge and then used it without having a lawful basis for doing so, then it is likely that those affected will have claims for compensation for misuse of private information and breach of the Data Protection Act.”
If you are a UK Facebook user, have received a message from Facebook saying that your personal information may have been misused and wish more to receive more information about bringing a claim for compensation then please complete the attached form via the link below.