Facebook Faces Fine From The EU, Braces To Bring Change
When is Facebook going to stop running into trouble? At least the company right now has not created any new problems but is currently facing consequences for its past ones. Its common knowledge that Facebook got into some big trouble with the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Governments have been unhappy with this, and they have questioned the amount of protection that users have in the network.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), however, has something more to add other than just complaints. The ICO investigated and found out that between 2007 and 2014, Facebook processed the personal information of users unfairly. The company allowed application developers to access data without being sufficiently clear and informed consent.
Shocking New Information
And that is not all. The ICO also found out that Facebook has been failing to make suitable checks on the apps and the developers using its platform. And thus that led to this 500,000 Pound fine. First posted in July, this is the maximum allowable fine. Now thankfully, this is not a huge fine for Facebook.
To compare, if this same event should take place under the EU’s GDPR, Facebook could face a much larger 17 million pounds fine. Meaning? Four percent of its global turnover. Again, 17 million pounds is not an amount that would bring the company to a standstill but is enough for Mark to hold his breath for a second.
Silver Linings, Yet Dark Clouds
Now let’s move on from money. Let’s talk about users. The internet is mostly an ungoverned space. There might be laws, but with the number of hiding spaces and loopholes present, a single individual playing bad would be hard to trace and find. And that is why governments are unhappy with Facebook giving them a cover.
And turns out that this is a bad news for Facebook too. Because if governments think that a particular internet place is dangerous or not recommended, then there are good chances of users too falling in numbers from that country or region. There would also be chances for competitors to arise, taking advantage of the situation.
And in this age of the internet, competition is not very hard to find. Facebook, for now, has been very prompt in responding to all legal lawsuits and the like. The company has been paying all the due fines and has also assured that it would be taking all the needed steps to set things right.
