Facebook's worst privacy scandals and data disasters

Perhaps the most well-known example of a failure in Facebook's privacy and data management is the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Facebook permitted the "unfair" sharing of user data with developers without "clear and informed consent," regulators say. Up to 87 million users in the UK, US, and beyond are believed to have been affected. 

User data, including names, liked content, and locations, may have been used to sway voters in the leadup to the US presidential elections. Russian interference is suspected.

The abuse came from a personality profiling app which not only harvested information belonging to users but also their contacts.

The social network was fined by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was hauled in front of US Congress to explain the firm's actions. 

See also: Facebook must pay UK's ICO £500,000 over Cambridge Analytica scandal | Facebook appeals £500,000 penalty over Cambridge Analytica scandal | Trump-linked data firm Cambridge Analytica harvested data on 50 million Facebook profiles to help target voters | Data breach exposes Cambridge Analytica's data mining tools

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