On July 10, 2018, the Information Commissioner Officer, ICO, issued a report of the office investigations into the use of data analytics in political campaigns.
According to the ICO, data analytics is causing information asymmetry between different groups of voters. The report details some of the organizations under investigation, as well as the enforcement actions undertaken so far.
This includes the ICO’s intention to fine Facebook a maximum £500,000 for two breaches. Evidence emerged that an app had been used to harvest the data of 50 million Facebook users across the world. This is now estimated at 87 million.
The ICO’s investigation concluded that Facebook contravened the law by failing to safeguard people’s information. It also found that the company failed to be transparent about how people’s data was harvested by others.
Facebook has a chance to respond to the Commissioner’s Notice of Intent, after which a final decision will be made.
Findings, recommendations and actions from ICO investigation into data analytics in political campaigns are available at https://ico.org.uk…
Originally published on Technethics in July 2018