WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2020) Canada launched a formal legal proceeding against Facebook aimed at securing a Federal Court declaration that the social media platform violated the nation's privacy law by sharing user data with outsiders, including the UK consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) announced in a press release on Thursday.
In addition to seeking a declaration that Facebook violated Canadian law, the OPC is seeking a court order prohibiting Facebook from further collecting, using and disclosing any personal information of users that that violates the nation privacy law, according to the release.
"The application follows a joint investigation last year by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia that found major shortcomings in the social media giant's privacy practices," the release said.
The OPC probe was triggered by allegations that Facebook allowed outsiders to use an app to access users personal information and then share that information with other organizations, the release said.
As an example, the release cited the UK consulting firm Cambridge's Analytica, which collected data from 87 million Facebook users to create voter profiles for US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and the earlier Brexit referendum to influence the outcome.
The release noted that Facebook disputed the findings of the earlier OPC investigation and refused to implement recommended corrective measures.
