(Eagle News)– The National Privacy Commission announced on Friday, April 13, that it was launching an investigation following Facebook’s admission data from over one million accounts of Filipinos may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.
“We are launching an investigation into Facebook to determine whether there is unauthorized processing of personal data of Filipinos, and other possible violations of the Data Privacy Act,” an excerpt of the letter sent to Zuckerberg said.
The letter, dated April 11, was signed by NPC commissioner Raymund Liboro; and Deputy Commissioners Ivy Patdu and Leandro Angelo Aguirre.
In connection with the looming inquiry, the NPC also directed Facebook to furnish them with “information relevant to the processing of Facebook data of affected Filipinos, and how personal data is generally shared with third parties using (Facebook).”
The NPC said failure of Facebook to do so within 15 days from receipt of the request will “prompt (it) to take further corrective actions to protect the interests of Filipino data subjects.”
“The Philippines has exceeded user growth projections and now has more than 67 million active Facebook users. It is our duty to protect the data privacy interests of these users, and to provide those affected with avenues for redress,” the NPC said.
Facebook has said the data breach involved 87 million Facebook users all over the world.
The Philippines had the second most number of Facebook accounts that Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s chief technology officer, said may have been improperly accessed by British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.
In a post, Schroepfer said 1,175,870 accounts may have been affected, only next to the 70, 632,350 that may have been affected in the United States.
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