Facebook has been handed yet another fine. This time, Turkey is fining the company over the image data leak.
We have a follow-up to a story we brought you last December. Last year, Facebook suffered a data leak where user pictures were exposed. Now, legal repercussions have hit Facebook over that leak.
According to Phys.org, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority has handed down a $270,000 fine to Facebook over the incident. From the report:
Turkey’s state-run news agency says the country’s data protection agency has fined Facebook 1.650 million Turkish lira ($270,000) for contravening data laws.
The news could be of interest to Canadian’s because questions are being raised about the strength of the privacy laws. This came after two Canadian privacy commissioner’s announced that they would be taking Facebook to court. The reason for this action is because the commissioner’s issued a report that said that Facebook isn’t doing enough to protect users privacy. Facebook simply disagreed and brushed off the report.
As one expert pointed out, the problem here is that, at the worst case scenario for Facebook, the company could face a $100,000 fine. That, of course, would hardly be considered a deterrent for a company that large.
This latest fine, at more than double the amount, is pretty much at the same level, but Turkish authorities were able to move more quickly in slapping the fine on Facebook in the first place. After all, the image data leak occurred last December whereas the Cambridge Analytica scandal dates back as far as March of last year.
So, this latest fine puts additional perspective on what is happening in Canada. The action for something that is older is still ongoing. The potential maximum fine is certain to be smaller. Also, even the fine Turkish authorities are handing down is still a rounding error for Facebook’s bottom line – if that. That fine is more than double what Canada can hand down.
Moreover, this also highlights how some countries are struggling to keep companies accountable for user information. The United States, for instance, could be where Facebook gets hit with an up to $5 billion fine. While that is certainly headline grabbing, some are wondering if that is even a deterrent level fine for such a large company.
So, little surprise that, these days, there is an increase in discussion on reforming privacy laws in many parts of the world. While levels of fines are certainly a point of discussion, the fact that fines are being handed down in the first place is an indicator that countries are not happy with how Facebook is handling user information. After all, “is the privacy laws sufficient?” is certainly a perfectly legitimate question to be asking these days in light of all that is happening.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
