- Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has suspended data firm Cambridge Analytica after learning that it misled the company and violated is policy for handling user data.
- The social-network giant has suspended Cambridge Analytica (which worked for President Trump in the 2016 election), its parent company and two individuals who don't work there for improperly keeping data for years despite saying the records were destroyed.
- The news has led to the UK probing Facebook in the issue. British Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham today says it's important "the public are fully aware of how information is used and shared in modern political campaigns and the potential impact on their privacy," and they'll look into whether data was "illegally acquired and used."
- She says criminal and civil enforcement actions will be "pursued vigorously."
- Cambridge Analytica has come under scrutiny in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible Trump-Russia collusion. It was paid near $9M by the Trump campaign for data, polling and research services.
- Facebook says it learned in 2015 that a psychology professor broke its data policies by sharing data from a personality-prediction app with third parties including Cambridge Analytica. Facebook removed his app and demanded that he and those he shared data with certify the records were destroyed.
- Now read: Facebook: What I Expect Fourth Quarter To Look Like
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