Meta has agreed to a no-admission settlement of $50 million with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) over the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. The company will pay Australians who had their Facebook data harvested and used to serve personalized political advertisements.
The OAIC released a press statement saying, "The personal information of some Australian Facebook users was disclosed to the This is Your Digital Life app in breach of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)."
As part of the settlement, the OAIC has agreed to withdraw from the civil penalty proceedings, which have been ongoing since February 2024.
Meta has agreed to set up a payment scheme overseen by an independent third-party administrator. The company will announce a third-party mediator early next year. The payouts will be for individuals -
1) Who had a Facebook account between November 2, 2013, and December 17, 2015.
2) Were in Australia for more than 30 days during that period and
3) Installed the This is Your Digital Life app or were Facebook friends with someone who had the app installed.
There will be two tiers to the payment system - one that will permit individuals to apply for a base payment "if they believe they experienced generalized concern or embarrassment because of the matter," and second, individuals who can demonstrate loss or damage due to the scandal, who will then be eligible for a higher payout.
"Today's settlement represents the largest ever payment dedicated to addressing concerns about the privacy of individuals in Australia," said Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd in a press release.
"It represents a substantive resolution of privacy concerns raised by the Cambridge Analytica matter, gives potentially affected Australians an opportunity to seek redress through Meta's payment program, and brings to an end a lengthy court process," Tydd added.
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