Facebook Newsfeed to Notify If Cambridge Analytica Took Your Data
Facebook is reaching out to its users who were affected by the Cambridge Analytica data breach.
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Facebook has been cleaning up the mess in its backyard, and as weeks go by it’s also looking to mend its relations with disgruntled users. The social networking platform from Monday, 9 April, onwards connect with 87 million users and tell them if their personal data was "improperly shared" with the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.
The userbase is inclusive of the 562,455 people from India who reportedly fell prey to the same privacy issue.
Those affected by the data privacy breach will see a detailed message at the top of their news feed.
In addition to those affected, Facebook confirmed that over 2 billion users on its platform will also see a link at the top of their news feed so they can see what apps they use and the information they have shared.
Facebook does not know how Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research used the data of users because the firms are not its downstream affiliates and may have made independent decisions regarding the data they obtained. This, Facebook said, was not authorise(d) and breached our policies.
The location of those affected has been identified. But Facebook said the location was "not an indication of voter registration, nationality or citizenship and may not, in some cases, indicate actual place of residence.”
A Facebook spokesperson said a possible breach of data of 562,455 users happened after 335 Facebook users in India installed a quiz app, "thisisyourdigitallife" between November 2013 and December 2015.
The app, developed by University of Cambridge psychology researcher Aleksandr Kogan and his company Global Science Research, pulled out data of not only these 335 users but their friends as well as friends of friends also.
Some 335 people in India were said to have installed the app, which is 0.1 percent of its total worldwide installs.
Questions have been raised as to whether Facebook’s co-owned products like WhatsApp and Instagram will be affected by this privacy turmoil in any way.
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