Meta Settles A$50 Million Over Cambridge Analytica Scandal In Australia

Meta Platforms has reached a A$50 million ($31.85 million) settlement with Australia’s privacy watchdog, resolving an expensive legal dispute related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Rishav Chatterjee and Kaye Byron reported for Reuters.

The breach, which emerged in 2018, led to fines for Facebook in the U.S. and the UK in 2019. I Photo: Mark Zuckerberg

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner alleged that personal information of some users was improperly accessed through Facebook’s quiz app, This is Your Digital Life.

The breach, which emerged in 2018, led to fines for Facebook in the U.S. and the UK in 2019.

Since 2020, Australia’s privacy regulator has been pursuing legal action, arguing that the data of 311,127 Australian Facebook users was exposed and potentially used for profiling purposes by Cambridge Analytica.

In 2023, the Australian federal court ordered Meta and the privacy commissioner to enter mediation after dismissing Meta’s appeal in March of the same year.

The settlement concludes one of the most high-profile legal battles over data privacy in Australia.