Facebook could be hit with £1.1billion fine for breaching rules on users' data, says Matt Hancock
2 min read
Facebook could be hit with a £1.1bn fine for breaching rules on its users' data, Culture Secretary Matt Hancock has said.
The social media platform is at the centre of a storm after 50 million of its users had their personal information harvested by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
In a statement, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg said: "We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you."
Appearing at a lunch in Westminster, Mr Hancock said the Data Protection Bill, which is currently going through parliament, would allow the Government to fine social media companies up to 4% of their global turnover if they "don't play by the rules".
He said: "This means Facebook, if it breaks the rules, could face bills of up to £1.1bn from May. And the Bill also means that people will have the right to move all their data wholesale from one social network to another. So from May, if people lose trust in a social media platform, they can move to another one at the click of a button and this will concentrate minds.
"After this week's revelations I think it's time that social media platforms come clean with what data they really hold on people and I want to see rules in place to allow people to have control over their own data. So we're going to require much more transparency on how data is held by the big platforms and transparency over how advertising spend is used on them."
Mr Hancock also said he was looking at handing more powers to the Information Commissioner, who is still waiting to be given the legal go-ahead to enter Cambridge Analytica's UK headquarters to carry out an investigation.
The minister said: "The Information Commissioner has asked for the ability to go in faster into an organisation against which she has an information notice, in the same way that other civil enforcement authorities are able to go in with no notice.
"The second thing is about making sure she can get testimony from individuals. At the moment she can get testimony from organisations, but if an individual leaves an organisation or if an organisation folds, then there isn't the legal capability to require the testimony of an individual who was previously in that organisation.
"So she has explained that these are the things that she thinks that we should be looking at and we are actively engaging with her on whether we should go there."
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