Facebook has gone through scrutiny after the revelations made about the data harvested by a data firm. On Friday, the social network confirmed data belonging to 2.7 million EU citizens was utilized by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
According to Reuters , the unauthorized use of data from citizens of Europe was confirmed by an EU executive. In addition, the EU Commission confirmed within the report that it had received a letter from Facebook late Thursday and was investigating the issue further.
This latest development will only amplify the problem and scandal behind the data breach. Facebook, since the suspension of Cambridge Analytica and the subsequent media reports about the data leak, has lost more than $100 billion in market value in the past ten days alone.
“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 confirmed.”
The letter that was sent to the EU explained that the company was undergoing efforts to take the necessary steps to adequately mitigate the situation.
The data used from the 28-nation bloc has prompted action by the EU. As reported by the In dependent , the EU is asking data protection authorities from various countries to collaborate and work together to figure out what happened to the data belonging to EU citizens.
EU says Facebook confirmed data of 2.7 million Europeans ‘improperly shared’ https://t.co/HfHu9zKSo9
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 6, 2018
This recent data breach from EU citizens just adds more problems for Facebook. Initially, it was confirmed that Cambridge had utilized information from over 50 million Facebook users. On Wednesday, the world’s largest social network confirmed the number of affected accounts had increased to 87 million .
Europe is cracking down on Facebook amid growing concerns about data privacy. https://t.co/Mo4ERll02g
— Vox (@voxdotcom) April 8, 2018
In the midst of addressing the data breach in the EU, on the same day another Reuters news release confirmed Facebook announced the suspension of Canadian political consultancy AggregateIQ.
The person who alluded to the misuse of the data was a whistleblower by the of Christopher Wylie. He worked for Cambridge Analytica and alerted Facebook about the data harvested.
The suspension of AggregateIQ is not an isolated occurrence. Within the above report, Wylie said Cambridge Analytica had worked with the Canadian data firm.
Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to appear before a congressional hearing led by Rep. Greg Walden. These recent events will add more questions that the company’s CEO will have to explain during the hearing.
