Data
Facebook and London-based
Cambridge Analytica have come under intense media, regulatory and legal
scrutiny after a whistleblower alleged improper practices regarding collecting
and sharing user data.
Former Cambridge Analytica employee Christopher Wylie claimed the firm
purchased large amounts of data from 270,000 people using a personality quiz on
Facebook, as well as the data of 50 million mainly US Facebook users that was
collected without their explicit consent through their friend networks.
Privacy International, which defends rights to privacy in the digital age, has
accused policy-makers of encouraging and promoting digital industries over the
protection of people’s personal data.
“The scandal has shown that the public is concerned by companies’ exploitation
of their data,” the group said in a briefing published on its website.
Privacy International described the current lack of transparency into how
companies are using people’s data as “unacceptable”, and has called for “stringent
safeguards” to protect personal data.
The group said reform should not be limited to individual companies, warning
that consumers are confronted with a “hidden ecosystem” of organisations that
are harvesting and sharing data.
“From credit scoring and insurance quotations to targeted political
communication, this data is being used for far-reaching purposes,” the
organisation said.
Privacy International has called on UK policy-makers to take action in seven
areas in response to the data exploitation issues highlighted by the Cambridge
Analytica and Facebook scandal.
First, the group said policy-makers must defend privacy as a fundamental right
and stop playing data protection against innovation, noting that data
protection and privacy are fundamental rights. The briefing also pointed out
that data protection and privacy rights are fundamental to users’ trust in new
technologies because they address the vast power imbalances between consumers
and those that process their data. “Without such consumer trust, innovation
cannot thrive,” the paper said.
Second, the group called for politicians to promote data protection law instead
of the concept of “data ownership”. Data protection law provides individuals
with rights and protections on the processing of all personal data, regardless
of who holds it, the paper said, while “data ownership” implies that people can
sell away their fundamental rights. The paper cautioned that this risked
exacerbating the imbalance of power and could result in the exploitation of
people’s economic concerns at the expense of their personal data and
fundamental rights.
Third, the group said data protection and consumer protection authorities need
more resources to do their jobs because the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica
scandal shows that even blatant violations of the law only ever reach the
public eye if someone investigates. The paper called on the UK government to
provide more resources and powers to consumer and data protection authorities
to do their jobs, adding that the Data Protection Bill currently in the House
of Commons provides a “golden opportunity”.
Fourth, the group said policy-makers need to recognise that political parties
cannot be above the law. The paper called for changes to the UK Data Protection
Bill, which it said contains a number of “problematic provisions”, such as
allowing registered political parties to process personal data “revealing
political opinions” for the purposes of their political activities. Privacy
International has called for this to be revised and proposed several other
amendments.
Fifth, the paper said individuals need effective remedies. Noting that the
Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal shows that many unlawful practices
take place without being seen, the paper called for the new UK data protection
legislation to include the optional provision set out in Article 80.2 of the EU
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that allows qualified non-profit
organisations to pursue data protection infringements on their own initiative.
Sixth, the paper called for support for a strong e-privacy regulation. The
paper noted that the draft EU ePrivacy Regulation complemented GDPR by
providing clear and specific rules on issues such as tracking of individuals
online and offline and the use of location data. Privacy International is
calling on governments not to give in to pressure from companies to prevent
this regulation from being adopted.
Seventh, the paper said people have a right to know when they are politically
targeted, and called for political campaigning and advertising to be more
transparent and accountable. “Political parties need to report which data
analytics companies they have contracted, how much they are paid, and exactly
what role these companies will have in campaigning,” the paper said.
4th dimension expiation
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