UK’s Facebook users could get £12,500 each after data breach. The social network has come under fire after it was revealed that British consultancy Cambridge Analytica kept users’ data.
Law professor Maureen Mapp said this could cost Facebook £625 billion, which is double the £317 billion it is worth. She told the Metro newspaper that there are about 50 million users whose data was harvested.
Mapp added that assuming each one of them brought a claim for compensation for distress caused by the data breach, each individual may be awarded £12,500 as damages.
But a more likely outcome is that users would receive a maximum of £500 each, according data protection lawyer David Barda, who works for Slater and Gordon.
He said: ‘The amount of compensation will depend on the level of distress suffered, but Facebook could be facing claims of up to £500 per Facebook user if those users were able to demonstrate their distress.
In order to get the cash users would have to prove they had suffered distress as a result of the data breach and it would fall under the Data Protection Act.
Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg made a groveling public apology over the data scandal in an advert in the backs of several newspapers, after the political consultancy gained access to data of 50 million user.
“We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t, we don’t deserve it,” said the apology advertisement signed by Zuckerberg.
Facebook, the world's largest social media network, is facing growing government scrutiny in Europe and the United States.
This comes after allegations that Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed users' information to build profiles on American voters that were later used to help elect US President Donald Trump in 2016.
