Just a few weeks ago, data from more than 533 million Facebook user accounts were made public again in an Internet forum, obtained through a leak that originally went back to before September 2019, which included no only details related to the user name of the Internet users, but even email addresses and phone numbers.
Although this leak goes back, as the social network itself and also security experts have pointed out, to more than two years ago, it is now, after that new publication of the leaked data, when an Irish regulator has decided to put letters in the matter and open an investigation directed at Facebook on behalf of the European Union , because originally it would be the only one authorized to carry out such an investigation since the company installed its European headquarters in that country.
In this way, the regulator wants to check whether or not the American social network has respected its obligations in terms of data protection and security defined by the European Data Protection Regulation (RGPD), which has been in force since 2018, before the leak of users’ personal data, which took place a year later.
Facebook Denies Hacking, Citing User Negligence
The regulator has recently indicated that it has already discussed the incident with Facebook. The aforementioned social network has alleged that, in reality, the negligence would have been of the user , since, apparently, these data were “extracted” from the information publicly available on the site.
However, the DPC (Irish Data Protection Commission) is quite clear: it believes that there may have been a violation of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation by Facebook . Although the investigation now underway will have to determine it.
The penalties for breach of the GDPR can reach up to 4 percent of the company’s global annual income, so we would find ourselves facing a fine that could reach 3.5 billion dollars , if we take into account that, In 2020, Facebook brought in $ 86 billion.
In any case, experts urge users whose data was compromised to take legal action against the tech giant .
Thus, according to specialists, individual users who participate in the legal action could be offered compensation of up to 12,000 euros if it is successful, based on what would have already happened with similar cases in other countries.
