The US Federal Trade Commission ruled in favour of a record-high fine of five million US dollars against Facebook due to the scandal with “Cambridge Analytica”  and sharing data of 87 million users of the platform.

The consumer protection authority launched an investigation in March 2018, immediately after reports that “Cambridge Analytica” had had an access to tens of millions of users of the largest social media platform in the world.

Three Republican commissioners voted in favour of the out-of-court fine, while two Democrats were opposed, insisting that the investigation should be continued.

In 2014, “Facebook” created a quiz on personality type for users. The app collected data submitted by participants, as well as recorded all data about their friends.

The app was installed by around 300,000 people, but this trick was used to collect data about nearly 90 million people. At least some of the data was sold to “Cambridge Analytica” for creating a psychological profile of American voters.

“Cambridge Analytica” denies any violation of the law, stating that the data were not leaked. However, “Facebook” admitted to violating user trust and apologised to everyone.

Many criticised the fine, claiming that it is not adequate for “Facebook”, bearing in mind that the company informed its shareholders in April that it was expecting such an outcome and that most of the amount was already set aside.

After the ruling was announced, the value of “Facebook”’s shares at the stock exchange jumped.

(RTS/The Verge)