Warning to Australian companies following Facebook data scandal

More than 310,000 Australians may have had their data improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, according to a Facebook update overnight.

It has now been revealed Facebook information about up to 87 million people, mostly in the US, has been illegitimately collected, up from the 50 million people originally published.

As the reputational and financial risk of being revealed as an untrustworthy data host continues to escalate, and worldwide attention focuses on Facebook and illegitimate data collection conducted by Cambridge Analytica off the back of the platform, the Association of Market and Social Research Organisations (AMSRO) is sounding a warning to Australian companies not to think themselves exempt from the issue.

The warning comes as Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said the social network had no immediate plans to apply Europe’s GDPR legislation around data privacy in its entirety to the rest of the world. Zuckerberg reportedly told Reuters Facebook already complies with many parts of the law ahead of its implementation in May and the company wanted to extend privacy guarantees worldwide in spirit, but would make exceptions.

Global criticism of Facebook continues to ramp up after the social media giant confirmed more than 87 million user profiles were leaked to controversial political data analytics company, Cambridge Analytica. The news has raised criticism across the globe around Facebook’s consumer data practices, and the concerning influence hypertargeting can have on the outcome of political elections and referendums.

The news served as a hefty warning to marketers on the importance of transparency with consumers about how their information is used, and more stringent governance practices around access, and usage.

“The spotlight is now squarely on how organisations manage and use personal data – from the smallest firms up to the very largest, client organisations and all those who deal in and store data,” said AMSRO president, Craig Young.

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