Facebook tells EU data of up to 2.7m Europeans may have been “improperly shared” with Cambridge Analytica
The European Commission will speak with senior Facebook executives next week after it emerged that political consultancy Cambridge Analytica may have obtained the data of 2.7m EU-based users of the social network.
The Commission said it received a letter from Facebook last night and was looking for more details.
“Facebook confirmed to us that the data of overall up to 2.7 million Europeans or people in the EU to be more precise may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica,” a Commission spokesman told Reuters.
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“The letter also explains the steps Facebook has taken in response since.”
Earlier in the week, Facebook had admitted almost 30m more people than previously thought may have had their personal data handed over to Cambridge Analytica.
Some 87m, most of whom were from the US, may have had information improperly shared. Previously, the social media giant estimated a figure of 50m.
Chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer revealed the increased numbers as part of a blog post detailing how Facebook plans to restrict data access going forward and better protect its users’ information.
Last week, the tech giant said it would be making its privacy tools easier to find in a bid to improve transparency and improve trust.
Facebook said it has redesigned its settings menu on mobile phones to make things easier to find, and updated settings to make it clear what information can and cannot be shared with apps.
The firm has also created a privacy shortcuts menu to allow users to control their data in “just a few taps” with simpler explanations of how Facebook controls work.
The social media giant has faced growing scrutiny after it emerged that it had known for years that Cambridge Analytica had collected data from millions of its users, relying on the firm to monitor itself in deleting the information.
Concerns have been raised as to whether the political consultancy used the personal data of millions of Facebook users to sway the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election.
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