After appealing last year’s ruling that would have seen it fork over half a million pounds, Facebook drops it but doesn’t accept liability.
The Cambridge Analytica data-sharing scandal saw the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) slap Facebook with a hefty fine for putting UK users’ data at “serious risk” of being used in political campaigning. At the time, the social media platform said that it disagreed with ICO’s findings, but admitted that it “should have done more to investigate claims about Cambridge Analytica and taken action in 2015.”
It proceeded to appeal the decision because there was no proof that user data in the UK had been put at risk, but ICO’s critique was that Facebook didn’t do enough to stop Cambridge Analytica from accessing and using data. A settlement has now been reached that will see Facebook pay out a measly £500,000 ($939,350) without admitting any liability. Both parties will be responsible for their own legal fees.
“The ICO welcomes the agreement reached with Facebook for the withdrawal of their appeal against our Monetary Penalty Notice (MPN) and agreement to pay the fine,” said ICO deputy commissioner, James Dipple-Johnstone.
“The ICO’s main concern was that U.K. citizen data was exposed to a serious risk of harm. Protection of personal information and personal privacy is of fundamental importance, not only for the rights of individuals, but also, as we now know, for the preservation of a strong democracy.” [VentureBeat]
This post originally appeared on Gizmodo UK, which is gobbling up the news in a different timezone.