Brazil’s Ministry of Justice announced yesterday that it has fined Facebook to the tune of 6.6 million reais (1.6 million dollars) for improperly sharing users data.
The Ministry said it confirmed in an investigation that Facebook shared 443,000 users’ data with a company for use in an app called “thisisyourdigitallife.”
In a statement, the ministry commented that the data was being shared in a “questionable” manner.
In an e-mailed statement, the tech giant said it was evaluating its legal options regarding the case.
“We are focused on protecting people’s privacy,” the company said, adding that it had made changes that restricted “the information which App developers can access.”
The ministry said Facebook failed to provide users with enough information regarding default privacy settings, particularly related to data of “friends” and “friends of friends.”
The ministry confirmed that the decision is as a result of a year-long investigation following media reports of the misuse of data by political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica in 2018.
Facebook has 10 days to appeal the decision with the fine due within 30 days.
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