The Cambridge Analytica scandal
It is March 17, 2018, when the New York Times and The Observer unleash the Cambridge Analytica case. The London-based company is accused of illegally using the personal data of 50 million Facebook users for electoral purposes. In a few hours Facebook announces, with an official note, that it has banned the British company from using the platform. But that’s not enough. On March 22, Mark Zuckerberg writes a post in which he apologizes for what happened and points out that Facebook made mistakes. On April 10, Zuckerberg also appears before the United States Congress. A hearing during which a rather soft line of US policy towards Facebook emerges. On May 2, 2018 Cambridge Analytica declares bankruptcy. What happened to user data remains a mystery to date. On May 11, Facebook shares start to breathe again: the value returns to be equal to the pre-scandal days, after a 30% drop. In short, all over. In the following months, however, Facebook will be fined: 5 billion dollars and the case is closed. But it remains a milestone when it comes to personal data and the Internet.
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