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Cambridge Analytica's Parent Pleads Guilty To Breaking UK Data Law (techcrunch.com)

Posted by msmash on from the some-justice dept.

Cambridge Analytica's parent company, SCL Elections, has been fined 15,000 Pound (roughly $19,000) in a UK court after pleading guilty to failing to comply with an enforcement notice issued by the national data protection watchdog, the Guardian reports. From a report: While the fine itself is a small and rather symbolic one, given the political data analytics firm went into administration last year, the implications of the prosecution are more sizeable. Last year the Information Commissioner's Office ordered SCL to hand over all the data it holds on U.S. academic, professor David Carroll, within 30 days. After the company failed to do so it was taken to court by the ICO. Prior to Cambridge Analytica gaining infamy for massively misusing Facebook user data, the company, which was used by the Trump campaign, claimed to have up to 7,000 data points on the entire U.S. electorate -- circa 240M people. So Carroll's attempt to understand exactly what data the company had on him, and how the information was processed to create a voter profile of it, has much wider relevance.

9 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. $19,000! by alvinrod · · Score: 3

    $19,000!

    I'm sure that will show them.

    1. Re:$19,000! by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      That will fall under petty cash vouchers. How much money did they make from this?

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:$19,000! by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Read the article (I know, that's crazy talk, but...) This is not about a massive data breach, nor about the large scale misuse of FB data, but about an individual case brought on by a US professor, as a test case of sorts:

      Last year the Information Commissioner’s Office ordered SCL to hand over all the data it holds on U.S. academic, professor David Carroll, within 30 days. After the company failed to do so it was taken to court by the ICO.

      One guy requested all data that CA has on him to be handed over, under UK law. They did not fully comply and he brought the case to the relevant authority, who issued an enforcement notice. The fine is for not complying within the required time frame. In such a case, $19k seems appropriate unless they'd have a history of ignoring similar requests (they don't)

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    3. Re:$19,000! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Unfortunately it was before GDPR and massive fines came in.

      The bigger loss is that since the company has folded we will probably never get to see exactly what data they had on people. It's likely gone and there isn't much anyone can do about it.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:$19,000! by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 2

      This is why we need a law making this kind of data collection illegal. It's an end-run around the right of privacy that would be illegal for a government to do -- so they can hand it off to a private company to abuse you for $ - so much more civilized. The data can't be returned and it an be used to manipulate people.

      There's no ability to deter this once the data is collected because as we noted -- the company can sell it's assets and fold up shop, maybe go offshore and disappear in to the night. The liability needs to be on FaceBook or whomever has privileged information -- I'm looking at you data carriers and ISPs.

      --
      >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
  2. Pocket change by ZombieCatInABox · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's pocket change. It is clear that from the beginning of the industrial revolution, laws have been drafted by the wealthy, for the benefit of the wealthy.

    Fines like these are only meant to give us plebs the illusion of justice. Remember people: Corporations are inherently sociopathic; they're actually incentivised to be that way, by the very nature of the capitalist system.

  3. Massively Misusing Facebook Data? by GregMmm · · Score: 2

    I've followed this story for a long time. As far as I have read, wasn't all the data they mined from Facebook ok per Facebooks data sharing? There wasn't anything illegal. Is Cambridge Analytica just the canary in the mine? Isn't there other who did the same thing, maybe even now?

    Personally, it seems this topic is very politically charged and it's hard to see what the technological issue was, or maybe still is?

    1. Re:Massively Misusing Facebook Data? by Mr307 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      https://www.technologyreview.c...

      Very political yep, the wrong side used the data so it must be somehow illegal.

    2. Re:Massively Misusing Facebook Data? by ljw1004 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Ok, still trying to understand. What law did they break. I'm by no means trying justifying what they did, but trying to have a conversation.

      The law they broke is the UK Data Protection Act. Read the Guardian article. It's all there. Even if, as you say, Cambridge Analytica obeyed the Facebook terms of service, nevertheless...

      (1) Cambridge Analytica held data on people; (2) Under UK law at the time - the "Data Protection Act" - if a company holds data on you, then the company is obliged to divulge that data to you personally upon your request; (3) someone did request their data and Cambridge Analytica ignored the request; (4) the UK's Information Commissioner's Office - which has authority under UK law relating to this part of the Data Protection Act - issued an enforcement notice which in the UK has weight of law, requiring Cambridge Analytica to comply with the request; (5) Cambridge Analytica declined the comply with the request arguing that it didn't have to; (6) a law court found that Cambridge Analytica did indeed have obey the enforcement notice, and had broken the law by not doing so.

      Summary: the law they broke is the UK Data Protection Act.