FTC rules Cambridge Analytica engaged in ‘deceptive practices’
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a unanimous ruling against Cambridge Analytica on Friday, saying the company engaged in “deceptive practices” by harvesting personal data from millions of Facebook users leading up to the 2016 election.
In its official opinion, approved by FTC commissioners in a 5-0 vote, the agency determined that Cambridge Analytica violated federal law by deceiving Facebook users about what data would be collected and how it would be used. The data was collected via an app built by the company to survey U.S.-based Facebook users.
The FTC ordered the company to stop making “misrepresentations” about how data is collected and said it needs to delete the personal data it gathered through the app.
FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips, a Republican, tweeted on Friday that “this enforcement action reflects our ongoing commitment to hold firms accountable to their privacy promises to American consumers.”
But the practical impact of the FTC’s order is unclear given that Cambridge Analytica closed its doors in 2018 shortly after filing for bankruptcy.
The New York Times and The Guardian first reported in early 2018 that Cambridge Analytica had mined the data of around 50 million Facebook users without their permission to build profiles to pinpoint voters, part of the firm’s role as consultants for President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The data collection ended up becoming one of the largest data breaches of customer information in Facebook’s history.
