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US: NY AG opens Facebook data probe

By  |  April 28, 2019
New York’s attorney general is launching an investigation into Facebook after it was reported last week that the company had scraped the email contacts of 1.5 million users without their consent, reported The Hill.

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    “It is time Facebook is held accountable for how it handles consumers’ personal information,” state Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Facebook has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of respect for consumers’ information while at the same time profiting from mining that data.”

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    James added that the incident is the “latest demonstration that Facebook does not take seriously its role in protecting our personal information.”

    A spokesperson for Facebook said it was “in touch with the New York State attorney general’s office” and that it would be “responding to their questions on this matter.”

    The incident is just the latest in a series of crises for Facebook which is still facing regulatory blowback from its handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that was revealed a year ago.

    On Wednesday, the company revealed that it had set aside $3 billion for a potential settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over the debacle, and that it anticipated a fine as high as $5 billion.

    Full Content: The Hill

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