The Zuck stops here
Brit victims of the Facebook data breach could be owed £12,500 payouts by the social network
BRITS impacted by the Facebook data scandal could be owed £12,500 each in compensation, claim lawyers.
Around a million people in the UK are thought to have been affected by the breach, which saw a firm called Cambridge Analytica obtain the info of 87 million Facebook users without their permission.
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The social network is already staring down a possible trillion-dollar fine in the US as part of a Federal Trade Commission probe, and it could be left with a massive bill on this side of the pond too.
Dispute resolution lawyer Jonathan Compton told the that those affected could complain to UK's data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), or make a claim through civil courts on the grounds that losing their data had been "distressing".
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'The start point for any award might be between £10,000 and £12,500," Compton, a partner at DMH Stallard, said.
"This will vary of course if the personal information is comparatively trivial or very serious and damaging."
The ICO has revealed that Facebook is one of 30 companies it is investigating over the use of personal data for meddling in political campaigns.
Cambridge Analytica boasted that it used the info snatched from Facebook users to help President Trump get into office and to sway the Brexit result.
Yesterday, Facebook started posting a notification to the News Feeds of the 87 million global users whose data may have been swiped by the shady firm – out of which 1.1 million are thought be from the UK.
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Later today, the social network's founder Mark Zuckerberg will issue another apology as part of his testimony in front of Congress.
He will tell US lawmakers: "I'm sorry … I'm responsible", admitting the site "didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm".
Do you want Facebook to pay up for mishandling user data? Let us know in the comments.
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