NZ gets stuck into Facebook too

New Zealand's privacy commissioner is grilling Facebook in relation to the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal after being informed that over 63,000 New Zealanders may have been impacted by the data breach.

Commissioner John Edwards said his office is yet to be fully informed about what information the data harvesting app was able to access.

The office is also questioning Facebook on the consequences that users potentially face as a result of the use, whether New Zealanders identified as being impacted will be notified and what advice will be given on the steps they can take to protect themselves and their information.

The commissioner will also take into account the findings of the in-progress investigations being undertaken by the Australian Privacy and Information Commissioner, its counterparts in the UK and Canada, and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Edwards said the office has not currently decided whether its own investigation will be required.

Last month the commissioner found that Facebook had breached the nation's Privacy Act by declining to hand over a year's worth of personal data Facebook held on a user. Facebook had argued that it was not subject to the Act, but the office has now found to the contrary.

Facebook's refusal to hand over the data to the office when requested also prevented the office from being able to address the user's complaint under New Zealand's statutory processes or determining whether Facebook was justified in withholding the requested information.

Meanwhile Facebook has indicated it will today start alerting the estimated 87 million users worldwide whose data may have been harvested by Cambridge Analytica without their knowledge or permission. These include around 310,000 Australians and the up to 63,000 New Zealanders.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/kantver

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