Advertisement

Data of over 37,000 in Norway may have been shared with Cambridge Analytica

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Data of over 37,000 in Norway may have been shared with Cambridge Analytica
Photo: grinvalds/Depositphotos"

37,550 Facebook users in Norway may have unwittingly had their data forwarded to controversial analysis firm Cambridge Analytica.

Advertisement

Facebook confirmed worldwide figures for data mining by Cambridge Analytica, which are in breach of its own rules, on Wednesday.

The data of up to 87 million worldwide users of the social media site may have been mined by the controversial consultancy firm – a considerably higher figure than the original estimate of 50 million.

No more than 17 Norwegian Facebook users downloaded an app that gave Cambridge Analytica access to private information.

But data from up to 37,550 users of Facebook in Norway may have been shared with the company, Facebook’s communications director for Scandinavia Peter Münster told news agency NTB via a written message.

The figure includes people in Norway who are ‘friends’ with Facebook users in the United States who downloaded the app.

The personal data is reported to have been collected via a personality test on an app to which users logged in using their Facebook profiles. The app's terms and conditions permitted it to access data from ‘friends’ of users.

Facebook estimates that 81 percent of affected users are US-based.

Data mined by Cambridge Analytica can include date of birth, home town, email address, photos, videos and friends’ contact details.

‘Likes’ also form part of the mined data.

The company has been reported by media including British newspaper the Guardian to have used the data to influence American voters in the 2016 general election.

Facebook has since stated that it give users more control over their personal data by making it easier to download and delete information shared on the social media site.

The company’s director, Mark Zuckerberg, will next week appear before a committee in the United States Congress over Facebook’s role in the data protection scandal.

READ ALSO: OPINION: It's time to claim ownership of our digital lives

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also