Meta Platforms has agreed to a A$50 million ($31.85 million) settlement with Australia’s privacy regulator, marking the resolution of long-running legal proceedings over the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) announced the settlement on Tuesday, concluding a case that began in 2020.
The OAIC alleged that Facebook’s personality quiz app, This is Your Digital Life, disclosed personal information of some users, which was then exposed to Cambridge Analytica for profiling purposes. According to the 2020 statement, the personal data of 311,127 Australian Facebook users was “exposed to the risk of being disclosed” to the British consulting firm.
The breaches resulted in Facebook facing fines from U.S. and UK regulators in 2019.
In March 2023, Australia’s high court rejected Meta’s appeal, allowing the privacy regulator to continue its prosecution. The country’s federal court later ordered Meta and the OAIC to enter mediation in June 2023.
Elizabeth Tydd, Australia’s Information Commissioner, stated that the settlement “represents the largest ever payment dedicated to addressing concerns about the privacy of individuals in Australia.”
Cambridge Analytica, which accessed data from millions of Facebook users without permission, predominantly used the information for political advertising, including support for Donald Trump’s U.S. campaign and the Brexit campaign in the UK.
