Wikipedia can go ahead and add all of Canada to the ever-expanding List Of Parties Who Have A Bone to Pick With Facebook page — a joint investigation by the privacy commissioners of Canada and British Columbia found the company “committed serious contraventions of Canadian privacy laws.”
Several data breaches have roiled the platform’s estimated 2 billion users in recent months. Canada’s investigation focused specifically on the blockbuster Cambridge Analytica scandal, which the commissioners estimate swept up data from 600,000 Canadians.
“Facebook’s refusal to act responsibly is deeply troubling given the vast amount of sensitive personal information users have entrusted to this company,” Daniel Therrien, Privacy Commissioner of Canada wrote in today’s press release, “their privacy framework was empty, and their vague terms were so elastic that they were not meaningful for privacy protection.”
According to the Washington Post, Canada has warned Facebook about its security measures for the better part of a decade. Attempts to audit the company’s privacy policies were declined for five years running. Now, regulators are hoping a court order might change Facebook’s tune.
Facebook is reported to have set aside $4 billion to cover costs and fines associated with a Federal Trade Commission probe, also regarding consensual data transfers to Cambridge Analytica.
British Columbia’s privacy commissioner, Michael McEvoy, seems intent to follow a similar course of action, stating that he’s seeking “the ability to levy meaningful fines” against the social giant for its years of empty contrition.
[WaPo]