If your data was harvested through Facebook you could get £12,500 compensation, according to an expert. The social network has come under fire after it was revealed Cambridge Analytica kept users’ data.
This could cost Facebook £625 billion, which is double the £317b it is worth, law professor Maureen Mapp argued. ‘There are about 50 million users whose data was harvested,’ she said. ‘Assuming each one of them brought a claim for compensation for distress caused by the data breach…each individual may be awarded £12,500 as damages.’
But a more likely outcome is that users would receive a maximum of £500 each, according data protection lawyer David Barda, who works for Slater and Gordon. He added: ‘The amount of compensation will depend on the level of distress suffered, but Facebook could be facing claims of up to £500 per Facebook user if those users were able to demonstrate their distress.’ In order to get the cash users would have to prove they had suffered distress as a result of the data breach and it would fall under the Data Protection Act. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for the way user data was handled. Cambridge Analytica is currently being investigated UK Information Commissioner’s Office.
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