Noor Trends News, Technical Analysis, Educational Tools and Recommendations
An Australian court has ordered Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, to pay fines a total of A$20 million ($14 million) for harvesting user data through a smartphone app that was promoted as a way to protect privacy without disclosing its actions.
The Australian Federal Court also ordered Mita to pay A$400,000 legal costs to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which brought the civil action.
The fine resolves one of the legal issues Meta has faced in Australia over its handling of user information since a global scandal over its use of data analytics provided by Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 US election.
Meta is still facing a civil case brought by the Australian Information Commissioner’s Office over its dealings with Cambridge Analytica in Australia.
Wednesday’s ruling relates to its Onavo virtual private network (VPN) app, which the company said is a way to keep personal information confidential. VPNs hide the identity of the Internet user by giving their computers a different online address.
However, Facebook used the app to collect users’ locations, the timing and frequency of their use of other smartphone apps, and the sites they visited for advertising purposes, Judge Wendy Abraham said in a written ruling.
Meta, which had global revenues of $116 billion last year, said in a statement that the judge admitted she never sought to mislead clients.
