Facebook Up Cambridge Analytica Scandal Figures Up To 87 Million
When the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, people were quite rightly upset. Facebook had allowed a company to now only collect data without our (at least expressed) knowledge but also allowed that company to share it with third parties.
While they are struggling to put out that PR disaster of a fire, they have at least admitted that the initial figures were wrong. In a report via the BBC, with the original estimate suggesting that around 50 million people had been affected, this figure has now been increased up to 87 million.
Where did it all start?
The initial data collection started in a ‘personality quiz’ the social media site hosted in 2015. Most people who took it, however, did not expect what data it was actually collecting. At the final result screen, the ‘quiz’ also collected the data of not just the person taking it, but anyone on their friend’s list.
As such, the initial estimate of 50 million would appear to be way off the mark. New estimated suggest that the true figure is over 37 million higher than that. That, as I’m sure you can appreciate, is a massive increase and clearly shows the widescale effect this simple ‘personality quiz’ has had.
How many users in the UK?
An exact break down of national figures isn’t available. It is, however, thought that at least 1.1 million of that number are people from the UK. On the surface, this may not sound too impressive. You may also wonder what relevance this might have to you. Well, you may be interested in hearing is that there are unconfirmed reports that a group is preparing to sue Facebook over the matter. In addition, it would appear that the social media site are open to a settlement offer. As such, any user affected by this might be entitled to some compensation. The only key factor would seem to be that you ‘express some distress’. I think I could manage that!
We will keep you posted in that regard as news develops. For the moment, however, Facebook just can’t seem to escape the bad news stories at the moment.
What do you think? Surprised at the number? Amazed by the increase in the estimate? In addition, would you consider joining legal action against Facebook? – Let us know in the comments!
